Un An D'Amour
by nietsmmar
Summary: Eight not-so-ordinary teenagers, four unexpected pairings, and one ultra-annoying, biased and stupid Marriage Law. How are they going to cope with weddings right around the corner? OC/RW, HG/DM, GW/BZ and snippets of LL/HP. - changed the summary a bit -
1. Dawns and Dragons

**A/N: Hello, everyone. It's just a tiny little fic I thought of when I was daydreaming in Maths, as per usual. :) So anyway, this chapter basically introduces the OC: Aurora Beatrice Malfoy. Read on to find out more...**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: If I were J.K. Rowling, I wouldn't be writing this.**

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><p>It was the first of September. The summer was ending soon, with the breeze getting cooler with every passing minute. The leaves were still green, though some of the weaker leaves have slowly fallen off the trees. When they fall, they joined the breeze before landing on the ground with a crinkling, calming sound.<p>

"Hurry up Aurora!"

Aurora Beatrice Malfoy was walking to King's Cross Station for the first time in her life. She was wearing her Hogwarts robes early, being a clever and prepared girl. She was quite tall for her age, and quite young-looking as well. She had long wavy blonde hair that reached her waist, and pale skin almost as white as the snow. Her eyes were a deep shade of grey, which made her face look extremely pale, but her rosy apple cheeks made up for the rest of the colour she lacked on her face.

She was raised in a family of purebloods: the Malfoys. They were known for many generations for being unmentionably wealthy, for having good connections in the Ministry, for having slightly peculiar names, and for thinking themselves superior to Muggleborns. For generations, they have tried to keep it this way, but Aurora changed everything.

Firstly, when she was born, she didn't cry and yell profusely like any other baby would. She chuckled in a babyish way, though there were still obvious tears coming out of her eyes. Her mother saw this, and her name was the first thing that popped in her mind, since she thought her daughter was 'a new dawn for the Malfoys'.

Let's just say she was dead accurate.

Secondly, her name wasn't too unusual. Sure, her first name was Latin for dawn and it wasn't used that often unless you were walking about Scandinavia, but her middle name, Beatrice, was extremely low and Muggle-like (to her parents, but to her, it was probably the most wonderful name in the world), and the only reason her parents let her keep it was because as a young girl (and she still does when she wants to make them angry), she never responded to anything else. Thirdly, she played a Muggle instrument: the piano. The only reason her parents would actually let her play was because she was extremely good at it. She was so good that even her brother could admit it.

There was one more reason Aurora wasn't like any Malfoy.

She didn't accept their teachings on Purebloods.

She thought that everyone was the same, Pureblood, Halfblood, or Muggleborn. She read Muggle literature. She cooks like a Muggle. She saw her parents and her brother looking at them strangely in the streets when they were out together, but she would often frown at them and tell them to stop looking at them weirdly.

_"Mummy, Daddy, brother, don't look at people like that," she'd say._

_"Why not?" her brother sighed. "In fact, Aurora, you're a _Malfoy_. You should be staring at them like that with the rest of us."_

_"Well, I'm not going to because it's rude and I don't want to be like _you_," she replied with bitterness. "You don't want people to stare at you like that, don't you?"_

_"I suppose you do have a point," her mother whispered. "Do you want some ice-cream later?"_

_"No, silly!" laughed the small girl. "I want ice-cream now!"_

Narcissa, being so proud of her little girl, would laugh along as well and buy her a scoop of ice-cream, which was usually chocolate or vanilla. Sometimes, Narcissa would have one herself, which is usually something special, like raspberry or lemon, and Aurora would beg for a spoonful. Narcissa would give it to her, keeping her happy for the rest of the outing.

"I'm coming, Daddy!"

Aurora caught a leaf and ran quickly to the station. She moved as fast as she could, putting the leaf in her pocket as she was dodging the crowd, who seems to be taking displeasure with her running.

"Gosh, Aurora. You can be such an idiot sometimes."

"Oh please, Draco. At least I know I'm going to pass all my tests, while you'll be sitting there last minute trying to figure out how to memorize everything in one night."

"I think you've forgotten, dear sister. I'm a Malfoy. And we Malfoys are as smart as anything."

"I know. But it does take a bit of actual talent as well, brother."

"What is it with you? Can't you take life as it goes along?"

"In actual fact, no."

Aurora turned away from her stubborn brother, who was smirking right behind her. She was busy thinking of revenge for him.

"That stupid boy!" Aurora muttered to herself. "I'm a Malfoy. Apparently, we're supposed to think ourselves the kings and queens of the universe! That's not true! Why I ought to -"

_Bump._

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Aurora whispered. "I didn't mean it!"

"No need to be in a worry," the person smiled.

They looked up. Aurora scanned the girl close. She had brown bushy hair, with teeth that looked slightly out of place. Her eyes were round and brown with a friendlier look than Aurora's. She was short and skinny. Like her, the girl was neatly dressed in her Hogwarts robes.

"I'm Hermione Granger," the girl smiled, extending her hand.

"I'm Aurora Beatrice Malfoy," Aurora grinned, shaking her hand. "But I'd like it better if you call me Rora."

"Why don't you like being called Aurora?" Hermione asked. "It's such a beautiful name."

"Oh, thanks. Nothing much. It's just that it's a constant reminder that I'm a Malfoy, the supposed kings and queens of the entire wizarding population. Or so my parents and my ultra-annoying brother say."

"I see. Is this your first year at Hogwarts, Rora?"

"Yeah. Is it yours too?"

"Yeah. Maybe then we can be in the same house together."

"That'll be lovely."

"Well, I have to ask. Who's your, as you say, ultra-annoying brother?"

"Draco Malfoy. I thought you knew that."

"I'm sorry. I'm a Muggleborn you see. I know almost everything about Hogwarts except for all the gossip."

"Oh, it's okay. It's better than being the exact opposite, Hermione."

"Well, what year is your brother in?"

"Umm... he's a first-year too."

"Well, is he your twin brother or something?"

_Urgh_, Aurora thought. _I'm going to hate this aren't I?_

"Sadly," she replied bitterly. "Yes."

* * *

><p>Draco Abraxas Malfoy has just finished annoying his little sister to pieces. To him, it was relatively easy. Aurora was a perfectionist, and prided herself in being the more educated twin. In a sense, it was true. She knew more about literature, Muggle and Wizard, than anyone, gets extremely high marks in some arithmancy (and Muggle arithmetic), is able to speak more French than anyone in her family, and flies on a broom almost as well as her Father. Draco, on the other hand, knew nothing on Wizard literature (unless you count his countless Quidditch magazine subscriptions), gets reasonable marks in arithmetic, struggles in French, but flies his Nimbus 2000 much better than his father or his sister could.<p>

He looked slightly different to his sister. His platinum hair had been slicked back with a ton of expensive hair gel his father had gotten him. His eyes were a much lighter shade of grey than his sister's, making them looks almost ghostly.

He was waiting on the platform, all alone. He then saw his friends, Blaise, Theodore Nott, Goyle, Pansy and Crabbe walk to him quickly. He laughed and walked towards them.

"Drakie!" Pansy grinned, flinging her arms around Draco. "I've missed you so much!"

"We saw each other last week," Draco sighed. Blaise was sniggering right behind him.

"Not funny Zabini," Draco yelled, pushing Pansy away from him.

"You two would look cute together," Blaise chuckled, as Crabbe and Goyle nodded behind him. Draco punched his face.

"Sure. Let's go with that," Draco muttered, looking around the platform. "Where's my stupid excuse of a sister anyway?"

Blaise and Pansy pointed behind them, to see his sister hanging out with a bushy-haired, buck-toothed brunette.

"Umm... who's that?" Draco asked, pointing to the brunette.

"Hermione Granger," Pansy muttered bitterly. "Or should I say, the most insufferable, know-it-all Mudblood of the century, according to a couple of the other - "

Immediately, everyone shushed her. She just shrugged her shoulders.

"To be honest," she sighed. "Aurora's alright, Draco. Except for the I-happen-to-think-everyone-is-equal-so-I-think-Muggles-are-alright-and-they-should-be-our-equals bit."

"Yeah," Blaise agreed. "She's actually kinda nice when you think about it. And cute."

The steam fuming out of the Hogwarts Express was getting thicker and hotter (which described Draco's anger right now), and the scenery became blurrier as time passed.

"I think we should go now," Pansy said.

The six friends headed for the train, reluctant but excited.

"I got the Albus Dumbledore Chocolate Frog card. _Again_."

"Ha! I got Rowena Ravenclaw!"

As Hermione and Aurora stepped into the compartment, the two boys looked up.

"May we join you?" Hermione asked. "I'm Hermione Granger. And you are..."

"Harry Potter," the black haired boy smiled, shaking her hand. He had a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

"The Harry Potter?" Hermione asked. "The one that killed Lord Voldemort without doing any magic as a baby?"

Harry nodded. Hermione squealed.

"I'm Aurora Malfoy," Aurora smiled. "I'm sure you might be intimidated by the name. No, I do not support Pureblood supremacy. No, I do not like Voldemort. And yes, I _do_ like Muggle things."

Harry and Aurora shook hands approvingly. Harry turned to Hermione and as they started joyously introducing themselves, Ron and Aurora were not.

"Red hair," Aurora mumbled. "Hand-me-down robes, red face, red everything, you must be a Weasley."

"Blonde hair," Ron mumbled at the same time. "Grey eyes, scary attitude, weird name, so-called fashionable robes, you must be a Malfoy."

"One, Aurora is not a weird name! And two, your robes could be simply fixed with a polishing charm, which we'll learn in Hogwarts!"

"Aurora is a weird name! Like it or not, it is! Besides, what would a Malfoy be doing with us, anyway?"

"Oh, I don't know! Trying to make friends, maybe?"

"Won't you rather make friends with, I don't know, Slytherins? Like your brother?"

"Don't you dare compare me to my brother!"

"Why can't I?"

"Cause we're different people with different ideas on life!"

"What's your idea of life then, Malfoy?"

"My idea of life is that everyone should be able to believe what they want, do what they want, and be what they want! They shouldn't have to worry about what their parents tell them to do, or what to be, or who to talk to!"

Ron and Aurora found themselves in complete silence, staring at each other. Ron looked shocked, while Aurora looked like she was about to cry. Hermione and Harry snuck up behind the pair, ignoring the looks on each other's faces.

"Looks like you've two have met!" Harry joyfully smiled.

* * *

><p>On the other side of the train, Draco and his friends were too busy discussing Quidditch.<p>

"The Tornadoes, Wasps, or Harpies?" Blaise asked. "I bet five Galleons on the Harpies."

"Ten for Tornadoes," Draco smirked.

"Fifteen for Wasps," Crabbe said.

"Twenty for Harpies!" Goyle yelled, being unfocused only moments before. Blaise and Draco raised their eyebrows on him.

"Twenty-five for none of them," Pansy said sarcastically, painting her nails a shade of dark green. "Guys, can we talk about something other than Quidditch, because honestly I'm so sick of it. Merlin, if only Aurora was here we could talk about _Witch Weekly_ or - "

Draco waved her down. "Alright," he said. "I want you guys to stop talking about Quidditch by the time I get back."

No one bother to ask him as he left their compartment, and looked for his sister. It was usually easy to find her when they were playing Hide-and-Seek in the Manor, with her extremely loud laugh and her loud voice, but for once, he couldn't hear her.

"Looking for me, brother?"

Draco turned to his right, and there she was, sitting next to a tall red-headed boy, smiling.

"Why are you disgracing me, sister?" Draco yelled. "Why are you sitting next to a Weasley for crying out loud?"

"Because I can!" Aurora sighed, rolling her eyes. "Can't I, Ronald?"

"Uh-huh!" Ron agreed, swallowing a Chocolate Frog. Whole.

"No you can't, you stupid little girl!" Draco yelled, his face turning redder at every moment. "Father would totally kill you for talking to a blood traitor and for disgracing the family name! A-and Mother? She'd go absolutely mad seeing how stupid you are! Even though you're her favourite!"

"How ironic," Aurora smirked, knowing her brother was now truly annoyed. "I thought you were the stupid one."

"I'm not as dumb as you to sit next to him!" Draco yelled as he stepped out of the compartment, leaving Hermione and Harry glaring at him. "You'll both pay for this, I say! You'll both pay for this!"

Ron and Aurora were holding onto each other, worried that they might fall apart.

Aurora then took out the leaf she had catched at King's Cross into the hands. She curled it into a fist, covering it up and closed her eyes.

_I wish Hogwarts will be the best thing that will ever happen to me._

* * *

><p>As the Hogwarts Express descends onto the platform, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Aurora had stepped out into the cold evening air. For the past few hours, they had forgotten about Draco's charade, and they have taken to explain to Hermione all the Wizarding World had to attain that couldn't be found in books and talking about Quidditch.<p>

They crossed the lake to Hogwarts with boats, which Hermione was very excited about. She shared her boat with Aurora, Ron and Harry, but the girls took the front while the boys took the back. Even though Aurora was supposed to be used to magic, but she still couldn't help but be enchanted with what she was seeing. The stars looked amazing out here, and she could see many different constellations compared to what she saw in Malfoy Manor.

"This is quite fascinating," Hermione whispered in awe. "Look! I could make out Sirius from those stars."

Aurora watched Hermione form shape in the sky with her wand, and she smirked as she drew Leo in the stars.

"That's quite amazing!" Hermione laughed.

Soon afterwards, they were in the Great Hall, walking to the front. Hermione and Aurora were close together, with Harry and Ron talking about Quidditch ahead of them. Behind them, and only Aurora knew this, Draco and Theo Nott were walking in complete silence, noses hanging in the air. Aurora rolled her eyes at their pride, while Draco was smirking right behind her.

"It's not real, the ceiling," Hermione told Aurora, who was interestedly listening to her. "It's just bewitched to look like the night sky. I read that from _Hogwarts: A History_."

"If I'd just met you I'd say you're in love with that book," Aurora sighed. Hermione simply chuckled.

Just as Aurora said her final word, Proffesor McGonagall tapped her goblet and the entire Hall looked up at her.

"The Sorting is about to begin," she grandly announced. "If I call your name, you must come up here and be sorted into the your houses."

"Hannah Abbott."

A shy looking blonde came up to the stage, looking around the hall nervously. For some reason, she stared at Aurora, and she just smiled and nodded, as Hannah sat under the Sorting Hat.

"Hufflepuff!"

The Hufflepuff Table cheered, and Hannah glided down the stairs and straight into their table.

"Hermione Granger."

Hermione quickly stepped up the stairs and sat in the chair and the hat flopped itself down on her. She looked at Aurora and she smiled back at her friend.

"Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindor Table cheered their heads off, and Hermione and Aurora high-fived each other on the way there.

"Draco Malfoy."

Draco elegantly walked up the stairs, smirking at Aurora, who only glared rudely at him. With the Sorting Hat barely touching him, it said -

"Slytherin."

The Slytherin Table cheered as Draco stared at Aurora again, and she simply ignored him. He then continued walking to the obviously overjoyed Slytherin Table, where Crabbe, Goyle and Theo were happily waiting for him.

"Aurora Malfoy."

Aurora slowly walked up the staircase. She could already hear whispers going around the Hall since there was usually only one Malfoy child, and to be honest, that really scared her, despite her usual, confident self. When she walked up to the Sorting Hat, surprisingly, it stayed on her head for a while, unlike her brother.

"Hmm..." it thought. "You're ambitious, cunning... manipulative. But I don't think you shouldn't be in Slytherin. Too clever. Maybe a Ravenclaw? No, no... ahhh... I've got it."

Her heart pounded as she waited for the answer.

_"GRYFFINDOR!"_

The Gryffindor Table clapped as hard as they could, since, well, they've gained a Malfoy. Malfoys were known to be clever, cunning, and obviously, this Gryffindor also had the ultimate Gryffindor quality full of courage.

Aurora quickly ran down the steps and into the Gryffindor Table like she owned the Hall. Soon after she started running the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables started clapping as well. They all thought that this was one step forward in Pure-blood supremacy; a Malfoy, one of the wealthiest Pureblood families in Britain, wasn't a Slytherin. Pretty soon, everyone in the Great Hall was clapping, even the Slytherins, even though some, like Draco Malfoy, were clapping half-heartedly. Aurora was having fun, meeting all her future housemates.

"I'm Fred," a tall, red-haired boy who looked like Ron grinned.

"And I'm George," another tall, red-haired boy who looked exactly the same grinned. "And we're Ron's brothers."

"Nice to meet you," Aurora smiled, shaking both their hands.

Soon afterwards, the clapping ended and the Sorting resumed as normal.

It ended with the last person, Blaise Zabini, entering Slytherin, and Ron and Harry were both Gryffindors, which pleased both Hermione and Aurora.

"May we have a good year," Dumbledore smiled. "Let's not waste anymore time, shall we? May the feast begin!"

Quickly, and almost in an instant, Ron quickly grabbed a turkey leg and starting chewing it as if he had never eaten before. He messily ate it, with skin and flesh flying everywhere. He then set it down on his plate, and took some mashed potatoes and he swallowed it as quick as lightning. When he tried to get more, Aurora grabbed his wrist, and set it down on the table.

"Honestly, Ron!" she bellowed. "Take your time. If you continue eating like that, I'm not surprised if you end up choking and being sent to Madam Pomfrey at the blink of an eye. Now, drink a glass of water. That's good. And now, take another piece of turkey. Okay, now eat it slowly. No! Not like that! _Slower._ Alright then, much better. Now there's less chance I don't have to escort you on an express ride to the Hospital Wing."

Out of the corner of his eyes, Ron could see Fred, George Harry and Hermione sniggering, trying to hold back their laughs. He then narrowed his eyes at his friend, who simply shrugged her shoulders.

"You act like Mum Rora," Ron commented, slowly eating his turkey.

"Then your mother seems like a jolly good person," Aurora huffed. "I'll take that as a compliment."

_I'm _so_ lucky I don't have to marry you_, Ron thought.

The feast was over soon afterwards, and Ron breathed a sigh of relief. At least he wouldn't have to worry about Aurora breathing down his neck for the night.

Little did he know about what was going to happen in a few years to come.


	2. Letters and Lovers

**A/N: Hello. It may have been less than 24 hours since I updated, but I feel like getting this chapter out of the way. It's taking up too much space in My Documents! XD And in this chapter, the fun potion starts to bubble...**

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><p>"Blaise!"<p>

It was summer in Malfoy Manor, and all seemed well. It was the summer before Aurora and Draco's Seventh Year, the last year they will be in Hogwarts. Over the years, Aurora had grow to be the best in her year for Divination and Charms, was made a Prefect with Harry, a Chaser in the Gryffindor Quidditch Team (and a good one at that) and almost everybody in the year (even the Slytherins) liked her. Hermione, her best friend, had taken O in her O.W.L.s for every single subject, which nobody was very surprised about. Aurora had a perfect life: a best friend who stands by her side, an annoying brother to pick fights with, and a handsome boyfriend.

Her hair never quite changed, though it was now a lighter shade of blonde and it seemed longer than it used to be. Her facial features were pretty much the same, but her lips were smaller and her face seemed more pointed and oval shaped than it had been six years ago. She now wore flower-shaped gold earrings her mother had bought her in Diagon Alley, and she had worn a simple lavender robe at home that day.

"Aurora!" Blaise smiled, hugging his girlfriend so tightly she nearly choked. "How has your summer been?"

"Fine," she chuckled, letting him go. "Except Draco still makes me want to hex him into oblivion. Though I could get Ginny to do that. She's amazing at jinxes."

Blaise laughed. He kissed his girlfriend passionately, trying not to be entangled in her long, blonde hair.

"I see your hair has grown," Blaise smirked. Aurora nodded.

"It has," she smirked, putting her hair back into place. He only chuckled. "And did I mention Draco is probably in his room, doing something devilish I should know about? I've been hearing quills scratching and spells flying on the walls for hours."

Blaise nodded and went upstairs. He knew that Draco probably didn't want to see him, but couldn't care less, since his girlfriend was asking him to spy on his best friend. He knew that not only was Draco unhappy about his best friend dating his obnoxious twin sister, he hated it. Around them, he felt like a third wheel, so he often felt useless around them.

"Drake," Blaise asked, knocking on Draco's bedroom door. "May I come in?"

"Just get the fuck in here, you lousy little git!"

Blaise laughed, opening the door. Then, his smile faded. He could see Draco trying to rip a couple of envelopes apart, but he couldn't.

"Try using a spell," Blaise suggested.

"That doesn't bloody work!" Draco yelled. "I tried!"

"_Accio_," Blaise muttered. The two creamy white envelopes flew towards him: one was addressed to Draco, and the other was addressed to Aurora.

"What on earth are you scared of, Drake?" Blaise laughed. "It's just a bloody envelope."

"Fine!" Draco yelled. He passed the envelope to Aurora. "If you think it's nothing, then give it to my sister, then!"

Blaise rolled his eyes as he went downstairs and gave Aurora the envelope.

"Apparently," Blaise smirked, rolled his eyes. "He's trying to get rid of this."

Aurora opened the envelope gently with her finger. She read the paper slowly, turning paler and paler. She then turned to Blaise slowly, knowing how hard she had been affected.

"B-Blaise," she trembled, holding the envelope in her hands. "I-I have to b-break up with you."

Blaise raised his eyebrows. "Why, Aurora?" he asked, looking as if he was bursting into tears.

"Read this," she cried, shoving it into his hand. She couldn't bear the sight of such a letter.

_Dear Miss Aurora Beatrice Malfoy,_

_This law has been reinstated three years ago due to a drastic decrease in the Wizarding population due to the Second Wizarding War, after it had been stopped during the Wizarding Rights Conference in 1516. This law has been kept secret due to the amount of controversy it would get if it reached the Daily Prophet._

_This law is a law that only applies to Seventh and Sixth Years studying in Hogwarts. This law requires you to be matched up with somebody (more likely than not will not be in your house or year) that the Ministry had, after comparing your personality tests you have done last year, would be your partner for the rest of your life. We have called this law the Marriage Law. You must be married by August 31st 1998. You will, instead of living in your house dorms, live in villas near Hogwarts with three other couples in the same street. You will still take your NEWTs._

_Your match is **Ronald Bilius Weasley**._

_You will live in 17 Albus Avenue with:_

_**Blaise Francesco Zabini** and **Ginevra Molly Weasley** (11 Albus Avenue)_

_**Harry James Potter** and **Luna Lovegood** (14 Albus Avenue)_

_**Draco Lucius Malfoy** and **Hermione Jean Granger** (19 Albus Avenue)_

_You are also required to send a sample ring to your partner so they can get you an engagement ring by August 17th 1997._

_Failure of complying by this law will be the Dementor's Kiss or a life sentence in Azkaban._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minister of Magic_

_Cornelius Fudge_

"What the hell?" Blaise yelled. "I have to marry Weasel's little sister? Oh well, at least we live in villas."

"Blaise, don't be so pessimistic. Ginny's extremely pretty," Aurora sighed, shaking her head. "She's cunning and gentle at the same time, like you. Even Pansy can vouch for that."

Blaise nodded. He was starting to think that it wasn't so bad. Aurora, on the other hand, was still muttering about a million ways to hex Ron.

"Calm down Aurora," Blaise sighed, stroking her shoulder. "I'm sure you'll turn out fine. Even though you're stuck with something as annoying as the Weasel."

Aurora laughed, "Yeah, maybe you're right."

They shared a kiss in the living room before Draco rushed down the stairs.

"Aurora!" he yelled anxiously. "How the hell am I going to survive Granger without you?"

"You're not," Aurora replied. "I'll help you. And honestly, we should have some sort of party to get everyone to stop talking about this Law. It's driving me crazy."

* * *

><p>"I'm marrying <em>her<em>?"

Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger had spent the past few weeks of the holidays in The Burrow. Aurora hadn't come because her parents needed her, so it was a bit quieter than most holidays for all three of them: Ron had no one to argue with, Harry had no one to debate with, and Hermione can't fine anyone her age to talk to. It was simply a quiet summer day until they recieved their letters.

"Dear Merlin!" Ron yelled. "They must've gone mad!"

"Are you kidding me?" Hermione yelled. "Yes they've gone mad! They're forcing people on us that we barely even like! At least you get to marry someone you know, Ronald. And I can give you advice on her. I, on the other hand, have to marry Aurora's son-of-a-bitch - no offense to Narcissa, she's amazing - brother. Well, at least she can give me advice."

"I've got to deal with _Nargles_ for the rest of my life!" Harry exclaimed. Hermione only shrugged it off while Ron muttered that he thought that Luna was a nice girl, and Harry should appreciate it.

"Poor Aurora," Hermione thought. "She's going to have to break it off with Blaise.

A white, snowy owl with golden feathertips flew in through the window behind them, carrying an envelope on its claws. The owl dropped the envelope straight onto Hermione's hands. The letter was addressed to her, and based on the loopy, curly handwriting, it was from Aurora. Hermione opened it, and there was a photo of Aurora and Blaise inside, out on the sunny Hogwarts grounds where they had paid Colin Creevey five Galleons to take a picture of them snogging.

_My favourite sister Mione,_

_Hello, Mione! How's it going at The Burrow? Harry tells me it's been very quiet around here. Hmm... We-All-Miss-Aurora Syndrome? Haha... I'm just joking. But you guys are alright, right?_

_DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS LETTER UNLESS YOU HAVE GOTTEN 'THE LETTER'. IF YOU HAVE GOTTEN IT, YOU'LL OBVIOUSLY KNOW WHAT I MEAN. IF YOU HAVEN'T, WAIT. (I wish I have some Veritaserum, but I don't.)_

_I'm sure you already know by know I'm supposed to be getting married to Ron, which means, yes, Blaise and I are officially over, and it's not even our fault. And you, my most absolute favourite sister ever (I don't give a fuck about the grammar), are getting married to my brother, which makes you my real-life sister-in-law. I want you to be related to me, of course, but not quite like this! (I was thinking more like one of your kids getting married to one of mine. *wink*)_

_I am so effing pissed about it. I mean, it's the law, sure, but the test compatibility evaluators should really, like double check their results. One, they know already that I hate Ron. Two, we'll kill each other. Three, I'm in love with Blaise and it's so fucking obvious. I've never sworn this much. Blaise isn't taking this well either. We've tried to convince each other how alright our partners are but none of us would budge. But hey, that means we can all plea to the Ministry, right?_

_By the way, I was joking about Blaise and I being officially over. We're still dating until we have to go to Hogwarts. I mean, we've been together since the Yule Ball in Fourth Year for Merlin's sake! We're not gonna get this Law to get in the way of our relationship! (And soon to be friendship. *sigh*) And would you mind keeping the photo for me, would ya? We're having a party in the Manor tomorrow, so please come!_

_Love you until lemon drops die,_  
><em>A.B.M. xxx :)<em>

_P.S. Tell Ron I hate him, and he should just get my ring (and Draco's) which I've put in this envelope and get me a pretty one and Harry that he's my favourite brother. ;) For Draco, get him a ring that's green. Any sort of green. Except lime green. Eurgh._

_P.P.S. If we had a Head Girl this year, it'd be you._

_P.P.P.S. I've a letter for Ginny in here. Give it to her or I'll hex you._

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Ron," she mumbled. "Aurora says she hates you, wants you to get her a pretty ring and Harry, she says you're her favourite brother and Ginny - "

There were a glass-breaking screech from the upstairs bedroom.

"WHY THE HELL," the booming voice yelled. "DO I HAVE TO MARRY BLAISE FREAKING _ZABINI_?"

Ginny came downstairs and she started hexing random curses at Ron. Hermione didn't do anything until Ginny yelled the Body-Bind Curse at Ron and then she passed her a piece of paper from Aurora.

"Read it," Hermione said, shoving the paper in Ginny's hands.

_Dearest Ginny,_  
><em>WHY THE HELL DO I HAVE TO MARRY A WEASLEY, FOR FUCK'S SAKE, RORA? I WISH I CAN JUST DIE INSTEAD OF DOING THAT.<em>

_Blaise, calm down, we're going to be related anyway -_

_NOT LIKE THAT._

_Now Blaise, get the fuck off the parchment before I use that Sleeping Potion on you._

_Fine._

_I know you're still looking. I can feel it._

_I'm not._

_Then how did you -_

_I can read your mind, Rora. Not to mention my telekinesis._

_Please stop controlling my quill like that, Blaise. I'm trying to write something important._

_Who's it about?_

_None. Of. Your. Business. Sweetie._

_Fine. Be that way._

_Oh MErlin Gin, I'm so sorry about that. Blaise is still pissed off about this Marriage Law thing, so he's been pissing me off (like I wasn't already) and you obviously are too. Don't lie to me. I know you are. And I am too: Not only can't I marry the love of my life who I've dated for two years, I have to marry my worst enemy, which is your brother. He's been an annoying little prat to me for these past six years (I'm sure you already know about that) But at least you'll be my sister. And plus, all three of us girls are related! :)_

_There are several things you must know about Blaise._

_1) His ring size is D; I checked. How I know? Don't ask._

_2) He doesn't like girls. (Apart from me and Pansy.)_

_3) He will give you the cold shoulder. (I'm the only person he doesn't give it to. Ahhh... the perks of being Blaise Zabini's girlfriend...)_

_4) He absolutely loves Quidditch, and he loves watching them. (He is in love with the Harpies, I assure you.)_

_5) He has problems with new people._

_Thankfully, two years of experience has made me more adapted and informative on his mood swings, and since you're going to be his future wife, Ginevra, I have prepared to you only one piece of advice:_

_Let him do all the work._

_Need I elaborate? I do? Urgh, fine._

_Don't make the first move to be friends, Gin. He won't appreciate it. Trust me, I should know out of all people. However, if he does happen to take an interest in you and starts talking, go ahead and start talking. If he talks, keep the conversation going as soon as possible so he can get more comfortable with you. He will. That's how he was friends with Draco and I in the first place._

_There. My piece of advice is done. If you need anymore help, owl me. I'll reply ASAP._

_Love you Gin,_  
><em>Rora xxx :)<em>

_P.S. Come to the Manor party tomorrow. Bring along those really yummy cookies you make. ;)_

"Merlin," Ginny sighed. "Aurora's a lifesaver."

"How can she be a lifesaver?" Ron yelled.

"She gave me advice. On my fiance," Ginny huffed. "And she's the one in love with him. Not to mention the gigantic Manor party she'll be having tomorrow."

Ron groaned. The last party she had was in the Gryffindor Common Room when they had won the House Cup a few weeks back, where she had unwittingly broke him and his (as Aurora had described her) stupid, slutty girlfriend, Lavender Brown. It started when the couple was hanging around the corridors near Gryffindor Tower, searching for broom closets.

_"Oh Won Won!" Lavender smirked, kissing Ron passionately for the umpteenth time in the last few seconds. "You were amazing in the game! How'd you do it?"_

_"It's nothing," Ron smiled, pushing Lavender away from him. He way be flattered, but he didn't want to snog in front of all the Gryffindors. Besides, he was getting tired of snogging after their year long relationship. "It's just a bit of luck."_

_"Sure. Let's see where that bit of luck leads us to, shall we?"_

_Ron and Lavender turned around to see a broom closet right behind them, so they smirked and jumped inside, only to see Blaise and Aurora snogging in it._

_"For heaven's sake, Ron!" Aurora exclaimed, letting go of Blaise. "Haven't you heard of inspecting broomclosets, for Merlin's sake? You vile imbecile!"_

_"There is no such thing as inspecting broom closets," Blaise corrected, but both Ron and Aurora simply let it slide._

_"You should have locked it, then!" Ron shrieked. "Or you were you too rushed to lock that thing."_

_"You know I use that broom closet all the time!" Aurora yelled. "To hide stuff, to sleep in, to do my homework - "_

_"As a matter of fact, I don't. And you don't own that broom closet."_

_"Everybody in the House of Gryffindor knows!"_

_"Are you sure everybody doesn't mean Harry, Hermione and Neville."_

_"Maybe! But that's not the point. You should've checked before you opened that thing."_

_For a while, Ron and Aurora stared into each other deep into each other's eyes. They were full of hatred and scorn, until she and Blaise turned away and left Ron and Lavender alone. Lavender started looking around, distracted._

_"Lav, what's the matter?" he asked, stroking her shoulders. She pushed them off her._

_"I'm breaking up with you," Lavender trembled._

_Ron's eyes widened. "Why?" he pleaded._

_"I know the way you look at her!" she yelled. "It's not hatred, as you say it is."_

_"What do you mean?" he yelled._

_"You like her!" she wailed. "And Ronald Weasley, make sure that I never speak to you ever again!"_

_Then she left him alone, surrounding by other joyful Gryffindors, to suffer alone._

_And he cried._

Ever since, Ron had been avoiding every single girl in his year except for Hermione, and he had spent his free time studying so that he became smarter than Harry, but much less than Aurora, let alone Hermione.

"Can I skip it?" Ron moaned.

"I'd rather have it that you fight with Aurora than not seeing her this summer," Harry snapped. "You two have to make up somehow. I know she broke you and Lavender up, but she did it by accident. She didn't want it to happen."

"Oh, didn't she?" Ron mocked. "All she wants to do with me is to make me into a nervous wreck."

"She doesn't," Hermione snarled. "She's like that because of what you said to her on the day all four of us met."

Ron paused. The argument snapped back into his head like a lightning bolt.

_"What would a Malfoy be doing with us, anyway?"_

_"Oh, I don't know! Trying to make friends, maybe?"_

_"Won't you rather make friends with, I don't know, Slytherins? Like your brother?"_

_"Don't you dare compare me to my brother!"_

_"Why can't I?"_

_"Cause we're different people with different ideas on life!"_

_"What's your idea of life then, Malfoy?"_

_"My idea of life is that everyone should be able to believe what they want, do what they want, and be what they want! They shouldn't have to worry about what their parents tell them to do, or what to be, or who to talk to!"_

"I have to agree with Aurora," Ginny sighed. "You can be a bit of a git."

"I'm going to lose this battle any way I argue," Ron moaned. "So, fine, what should I wear to the party?"

"That's the spirit!" Harry grinned, ruffling his best friend's hair. "You can wear some of those Muggle clothes from London that I bought you for your birthday."

"You should make a really good impression to Aurora," Ginny noted. "You're going to marry her, and I know her well enough to know that you shouldn't go into her parties looking like a complete disaster."

Ron raised his eyebrow, knowing that they were up to no good.

"Let's go get ready," Ginny smirked, and she, Harry and Hermione dragged him into Ron's own room upstairs.

_Oh Merlin_, he thought.


	3. Parties and Presents

**A/N: Hello everyone! This chapter, is obviously, the party. There's a drunk Draco, an angry Aurora and a sad Hermione. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Draco and Aurora were busy putting descorations in the house - the Wizard way. They were of age, so they could use magic any way they want. Blaise was also helping them out, as he was staying over at their house for the next couple of days so his mother can sort out for some fortune settlements with Blaise's seventh stepfather. His beautiful mother - though she wasn't exactly the brightest person in the book - was crying hoarsely for him. Everyone suspected that a mystery had been cursed upon her, so that after a couple of years of being married to her husbands, they always had some sort of freak accident which causes them to die, so Mrs. Zabini takes their fortune and wastes them.<p>

"I think that's the shortest one," Blaise thought. "Ten months... no - a year?"

"A year and a half," Aurora corrected. She had a strange ability to be able to memorize Blaise's important details that he couldn't remember, and vice versa, so that was why one couldn't live without the other.

"Close enough. Though I have no idea why my mother would want to umm... kill them all so quickly after marriage. All's fair in love and war I suppose," Blaise sighed. No one said anything else. To stop the awkward silence, he then searched in his mind for some other topics to talk about. "Umm... why are we having this party again?"

"To get everyone's minds off that Law," Draco mumbled. "As my darling sister said so yesterday, 'it's driving us crazy'. Which is true."

Aurora chuckled, half amused, half serious. She then spoke, "I mean, of course, they're going mad. Look around! Almost everybody's partnered up with someone they don't like. Pansy, I heard, got partnered up with Michael Corner from Ravenclaw. Poor girl, he can be a bit thick if you ask me. Except for Neville, probably. He owled me yesterday evening. He said he got partnered up with Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff. That boy has had a crush on her for _years_! I was actually pleased for him!"

Blaise raised his eyebrows, "Hannah _what_?"

Aurora rolled her eyes. She mumbled, "The long-haired blonde one that always stands next to Ernie Macmillan in - oh wait, you don't take Herbology, do you? Umm... the pretty blonde girl who started going out with Ernie Macmillan last year. Neville was so pleased when he found out. I owled him immediately about the party, and the first thing he said to me was, _'Of course we'll come! I'll even let you talk to Hannah!'_ Dear Merlin! As if I haven't met her before. What a kind, brave girl, sticking up for what she believed in, but she started becoming a bit snobby when she started going out with Ernie. Oh, speaking of him, I bet you five Galleons he's crying buckets in his house at this very moment."

"Which one's Ernie Macmillan?" Blaise asked, partly curious and partly trying to keep Aurora from droning on about gossip.

"Mon dieu, Blaise! Tu est tellement ignorant! C'est ter-_rible_!" Aurora sighed - though it was more like a quiet shriek - shaking her head incredulously. "Ernie Macmillan was the Hufflepuff you were partnered up with in Potions last year. Blonde hair, ridiculously posh, nearly - and I mean it - _nearly_ blew up your Drought of Living Death, doesn't that ring a bell?"

Blaise nodded as he hung up the balloons on the wall, finally relieved Aurora had stopped talking. Meanwhile, she was trying to enchant some of the banners on the walls to change colours, but she leaned too far back and fell off the stairs, and she was rescued promptly by Blaise.

"We'll do the rest Aurora," Blaise solemnly said. You go get ready."

Aurora then jumped upstairs and got ready for the party, unaware of Draco and Blaise's argument. She had decided on a black and white striped t-shirt that she paired up with a soft green cardigan. Her skirt was a denim skirt with a high waist with three golden buttons down the middle. Her bright red pumps made her outfit look almost simple yet flashy. To accessorize, she had chosen a couple of flashy rings and oversized bracelets she had gotten with the rest of her outift on a family vacation to Finland. But the most outstanding thing of her outfit was a series of necklaces she had made herself with one of each colour: turquoise, purple, yellow, pink, red and green.

Combing her hair neatly behind her, Aurora looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was hanging off her nicely, her make-up was almost invisible (She hated people who put on large quantities of showy make-up), her lips were pink and shiny, and her outfit made her look very pretty and young. She looked reasonably nice, but she didn't look posh. Just the way she liked herself to be. She smiled and she popped downstairs to have a look at the last remaining checkups on her clipboard.

Food?_ Best scones and profiteroles in all of England, butterbeer and perfect finger food made by the best Muggle chefs I could find. Had to make a few memory modifications though. That was fun. Check._

Music? _The finest collection from The Weird Sisters and all those other Wizarding bands I forgot the name of. Argh! Other than that, definitely a double check._

Decorations? _Some balloons are missing right now, but that's because Draco and Blaise haven't put them up yet. So far, all banners charmed and all balloons big, bright and colourful. Check._

And most importantly, the people. _Everyone in the Sixth and Seventh Year has been owled, and about 200-ish people are coming as of 10:20am, which was a minute ago. Check._

Yep, the party was definitely up and ready to go.

* * *

><p>"Come on, Ron! You look fine!"<p>

"So you say, Ginny. I reckon that I look like a sneaky old bat."

"Trust her, Ron. She's never been wrong before."

"Ha ha. Yeah right."

"Prove to me a time where I've been wrong!"

"Ummm... errr... that time you umm... err..."

"Ha! See? I'm almost never wrong! So quit asking!"

Ron, Ginny, Harry and Hermione had just finished getting ready for Aurora's grand party at the Malfoy Manor. They would Floo there, since their chimney was opened up to the Network just for the party. Also, Ginny and Hermione were getting a room ready for Aurora so that she could have a good-looking room when she stays at The Burrow for the rest of the summer. Everybody breathed relief at this, except Ron, since Aurora would probably tell them funny stories of what happened at the Manor while they were gone, which everybody - that means the entire Weasley clan too - would stop whatever they're doing because they brought light into the otherwise chaotic Weasley household.

Ron had gone shopping with Harry and Ginny the evening of the previous evening to a Muggle department store in Muggle London called Marks & Spencer, (since Ron's clothes that Harry bought him a while back didn't fit. No surprise there.) and they had gotten an outfit that Ginny had approved of blindfolded, and had a couple of Butterbeers in Diagon Alley before they went home. Hermione had chosen to stay home instead and had done all her holiday homework. And Harry's. And Ron's. Not to mention Ginny's.

For the party, they had all chosen casual Muggle outfits for the party. Hermione had chosen a blue, purple and violet checkered shirt with a faint lavender background and her favourite boot flare jeans. Her shoes were leather cowboy boots with little decorations and ribbons like in the old Western movies. She straightened her brown hair, making it look effortless and pretty at the same time, and she only wore a bit of lipgloss. The only other thing she wore were a pair of silver hoop earrings Aurora had given her a couple of years back.

Ginny, however, had decided to make herself stand out from Hermione. Ginny had chosen for herself a sleeveless pink and black checkered dress that reached below her knees that her mother used to wear as a teenager. To make it less frumpy, she ties a knot which looked like a rose at the bottom of her skirt, put a black belt around her waist and wore black stockings. Her hair was as straight as a line, and she paired it up with a pink headband with a blue hibiscus that hid nicely in her hair.

Harry looked absolutely normal. He simply wore a plain blue polo shirt and a pair of grey trousers completed with a pair of red trainers. His jet black hair was combed neatly, though there were still a few strands sticking up.

Ron, however, looked dashing and casual. His long red hair had been combed until not one strand was out of place. His shirt was a discount, and it was grey and checkered, with clear buttons down the middle. His brand-new blue jeans looked good on him, so good Hermione nearly drooled looking at him. His shoes were one of Harry's old pairs, and they were navy blue in colour.

"Oh Merlin! You all look absolutely perfect!" Ginny grinned. "Are you all ready?"

Everybody nodded, except Ron, and took a pinch of Floo Powder.

* * *

><p>Every second for the past thirty minutes, people have been coming into the Malfoy Manor like flocks. Practically everyone in the Seventh Year, and most people from the Sixth, were here. Everyone except Aurora's friends.<p>

"Urgh!" Aurora mumbled. "Where on earth are my friends?"

"I'm sure they'll come soon enough," Luna replied in her dreamy voice. "They don't skip parties like this."

"They do if Ron tells them to!" Aurora shrieked. "You know what they're like."

"I'm sure they're fine. Ron might just be stalling them or something. You know how Ginny can be so damn persistent, like a certain _someone_," Hannah laughed, trying to avoid Neville's longing gaze behind her. She turned around to face him and said, "Oh Neville darling, do you mind talking to your friends for a second? I need to talk to Aurora."

"Anything for my Hannah," Neville grinned, kissing Hannah on the cheek before looking for his friends in the middle of the crowd.

"Thank Merlin he's gone!" Hannah shrieked, dancing around in circles. She then rubbed the spot where Neville kissed her and sighed.

"Hannah," Aurora sighed. "Trust me. Neville's not that bad. It's just that he's had a crush on you for years - "

"He had?" Hannah screamed. Aurora quickly shushed her.

"Yes he had!" Aurora whispered, dragging Luna and Hannah down with her. "I mean, he talks about you in the Gryffindor Common Room all the time! And in lessons sometimes. He also owled me on how your wedding would be a Winter Wonderland!"

"Oh dear sister," Draco laughed. "Loony, Abbott. You guys should shut up. I could hear you from over there."

"You never laugh, Draco!" Aurora screeched, holding up two of her fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Four hundred and three!" he giggled, then he disappeared into the crowd.

"Oh shit," Aurora whispered. She then ran to Blaise for help, leaving Luna and Hannah to speak to each other.

"BLAISE!" she yelled. Blaise, who was drinking a jug of Butterbeer, turned around.

"What?" he asked. He was wearing a floral patterned white shirt with his jeans and black sneakers.

"Wouldn't you believe it? Draco is drunk!" she frantically whispered. "Imagine! Being drunk at eleven in the morning! _At_ _eleven_! _In the morning_! Did you give him any firewhiskey?"

"No," her boyfriend replied, holding her close. "But I know Theo Nott did bring some firewhiskey inside - "

"THEODORE NOTT!" Aurora yelled, breaking free from Blaise's arms. "GET THE FUCK OVER HERE RIGHT _NOW_!"

She then marched over to Theo Nott - who was trying to hide from Aurora's fiery temper - when Blaise saw Hermione jump out of the fireplace. He then beckoned her to come to him.

"Oh thank Merlin you're here!" Blaise yelled. "Can you stop Aurora from killing Theodore Nott?"

"Errr... no," Hermione replied doubtfully. She knew better than to mess with Aurora's (usually delusional) plans. She gave a look to Blaise, who immediately understood and nodded. "Why would she?"

"Draco is drunk," Blaise shrugged. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Oh... now, that is something I can help with," she sighed sadly, looking around the room. "Where is he anyway?"

Blaise immediately pointed to a corner in the room where Malfoy was busy playing 'Spin the Bottle' with some other random students. Hermione rolled her eyes, muttered something that sounded like 'Merlin's pants' and marched over to where Blaise said Draco was.

He was with some other students sitting down on the couches surrounding a round table. Hermione saw what was on the table: a magnetized paper clip, a couple of cups and a magnetized bottle.

Oh crap.

"Hermione! Hermione!" Draco laughed, dragging Hermione's wrist into the chair next to him. She couldn't stop him from dragging her down; he was too strong. "Come join us!"

"Okay then," Hermione smiled, blushing furiously. "What game are we playing?"

"Spin the bottle, of course!" Draco grinned. "You do know how to play, don't you?"

"Umm... yeah," Hermione stammered. "I d-do."

"Let the game begin!" said a brown haired girl who was sitting directly in front of Hermione, who was also obviously drunk with firewhiskey with the way she swung her arms about. "It's Draco's turn now!"

"Alright," he smirked.

He then spun the bottle around and around as he thought of whose cup he should drop his magnetized clip into, and after he thought of someone sensible, he quickly dropped the clip into that person's cup.

A couple of seconds later, it stopped on Hermione's.

* * *

><p>"This is some party," Ginny mumbled as she stumbled into the Manor. "I mean, look, practically the entire Sixth and Seventh Years from Hogwarts is here! Where's Aurora?"<p>

"Hexing Theodore Nott," replied a seemingly cold voice behind her. This caused Ginny to jump. "And Hermione's been looking for Draco."

"Why?" she asked, seeing Blaise in front of her.

"He's drunk as he can be," Blaise sighed. Ginny sighed.

"So I brought these cookies along for nothing," she mumbled, holding out a bag full of chocolate chip cookies. "If she doesn't eat them, no one will."

"I like cookies," Blaise pleaded, trying his hardest not to pout. "Especially chocolate chip ones. Can I have one?"

Ginny rolled her eyes and put some of the cookies in Blaise's willing hands. "Just don't expect me to make these every single day when we get married!" she warned him, barely taking her eyes off his bouncy, giggling face. He simply nodded and stuffed them in his face in front of her.

_Idiot_, she thought.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Harry and Ron were getting lost in the party. They were surrounded by too many people to figure out which part of the Manor they were supposed to be in. All they could were the walls, some paintings, some people, the walls, and guess what? More people.<p>

"Aurora!" screamed Harry.

"Hermione!" Ron yelled.

Soon enough, they see a couple of jets of light coming out from a certain figure's wand.

"_Avis_ _Oppugno_!" a feminine yet harsh voice yelled, pointing her wand at an obviously frightened boy right in front of her. "_Rictusempra_! _Petrificus_ _Totalus_!"

Flames of light, followed by a large flock of robins, flew from her wand as Ron decided to study the face casting those offensive spells, as soon as he figured it out, he ran to the figure and confiscated her wand. This only caused him extreme torture as he was then caught in a headlock with her as he was entangled in the figure's long, blonde hair.

"For Merlin's sake, Aurora!" he yelled. "Can you get off me?"

"There is no way in hell I'm going to get off you!" she shrieked. She then smiled sweetly towards Ron, noting his dashing new outfit. "Oooh... nice outfit! You look dashing! Err... ummm... now, Ronnie, being the handsome little boy you are, I suggest you give me my wand back!"

"How can I? You're attacking a student!"

"And that student is Theodore freaking Nott, who gave my brother a bottle of firewhiskey, so he's as drunk as hell now. It's eleven in the morning, and he's drunk!"

"Theodore Nott? Making Malfoy drunk? At eleven in the morning? Oh, okay then."

Immediately, Ron sighed and gave Aurora her wand back, something she was extremely thrilled about. She then continued to cast spells at him.

"_Levicorpus_!" she screamed. Theodore Nott then turned upside down, dangling in the air. People turned around to watch him dangled in the air. Some were perfectly horrified, like Theodore's girlfriend Pansy Parkinson (who was right behind him) and Lavender Brown, who was screaming, while others got the joke, like Ron and Harry.

"_Liberacorpus_!" Aurora sighed. Theodore fell from the air, and he fell onto the floor. Pansy clutched him in her arms, making sure that he was alright. However, he was too busy gazing at Aurora, who gave him a firm never-do-that-again look on her face as she pocketed her wand as left with Ron and Harry.

"Merlin!" she announced, putting her arms around both they boys' shoulders. Ron shrugged her off, but Harry let keep her arm on him. "That was a strenuous hexing session! I need to go to Ginny for some of those cookies she makes so well!"

Ron and Harry gazed at their friend. They looked at each other, wondering if Aurora had finally gone mad.

"That is not something not very many normal people would say, Aurora!" Ron whispered angrily.

"Whoever said I was normal?" Aurora replied, raising her eyebrow. "Honestly, Ron. You should pay closer attention to the important facts. Now if you'll excuse me, since you two are obviously ignorant enough not to notice our missing friend, I have to go and see Hermione. And I also have to see Ginny so I can have some of her delicious cookies."

Aurora took her arm off Harry and started marching angrily into the other direction, away from her now shell-shocked friends.

* * *

><p>On the other side of the party, Hermione was crying in the corner. In the midst of all the loud music, butterbeer and dancing, nobody was able to hear her. And she liked it that way.<p>

She was crying, and she deserves her chance to do so. Her best friend's twin brother had dragged her to a game of 'Spin the Bottle', gave her the kiss of her life, and danced with her in the middle of the crowd.

That would have been romantic if he wasn't drunk with firewhiskey. And worse, she had left him.

Well, what else could she do? She was scared.

She looked up at the decorations, which seemed to change colour every minute. A fast-paced song by the Weird Sisters was playing in the background, so everyone was too busy reciting the lyrics to it, which everybody got wrong.

"Are you alright, Herms?"

Hermione looked up to see Aurora holding out a couple of cookies. Hermione gladly took one and stuffed it all in her mouth whole, glaring rudely at her best friend, who simply raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"I'll take that as a no," Aurora sighed. "You never have such appalling table manners, even when you nearly failed Potions that other time. Now, tell me Herms, what's the matter with you?"

Hermione looked up, trying to open her mouth. "D-Draco," she stammered. She tried to say some more things, but Aurora immediately understood.

"Barely being able to speak," Aurora muttered beneath her breath. "Voice lost, crying, lips still... oh shit, he didn't snog you and dance with you when he was drunk, didn't he?"

Hermione nodded.

"Fuck!" Aurora yelled. "That bastard! If you'll excuse me, I need to have a word with him."

"No," Hermione spoke hoarsely, only just getting her voice back. "D-don't be m-mad at him."

"Are you kidding me, Herms? Why wouldn't I be mad at him? He hurt you, my ultra-amazing best friend. Oh, if he dares talk to you, no if he dares to even look at you again, give him the glare and he'll know."

"No, Aurora. I can't let you - or anyone for that matter - hurt your brother. You love him. Not like the way you love Blaise, but you know what I mean. I don't want you to hurt him. The best thing to do right now is for me to just ignore him for a bit and he'll probably talk to me again soon. You'll tell him as soon as he's sober."

"But why me?"

"He's your brother."

"But you're the one that's going to marry him!"

"Nevertheless, he hates me, Aurora. You know that. Which is why you're the best for the job. You know him well enough to fill an entire encyclopedia."

"B-but, b-b-but..."

"No buts."

Aurora sighed, walking away from her smiling friend. She hated losing an argument.

"You'll pay for this!" she jokingly shrieked, leaving Hermione double over in laughter.


	4. Hangovers and Hushing

**A/N: In this chapter, there's some revealed secrets, arguments and Dramione action. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Draco Malfoy had been lying on his bed for hours after the party. He had been conscious for w ehile, but he could not bother to open up his eyes. He could not hear, smell or even feel. His head was hurting too terribly for him to do anything. He can barely move his mouth. His back felt sore and stiff. So did his neck. But worst of all, he could not remember any memories of what had happened to him so that he got into this long, exhausting sleep.<p>

_Where am I?_ he thought. _And why the hell does my head hurt so much? And every other corner of my fucking body?_

As all of his other senses came into focus, he could make out a few voices talking around him, though he could not tell who they belonged to.

"Do you think he's conscious yet, Hermione? It seems like he's conscious. I swear, I saw his eyes twitch, I think."

"Honestly, Harry. Does he look like he's conscious? He's barely even breathing."

"What if he's just faking? You know how he's always faking at Hogwarts! Especially in Potions when he tries to get some sleep or whatever!"

"Merlin, Ron! You are _so_ stupid. As good of a faker Draco is, he can't fake sleep. Trust me, he tried faking in front of Mum and Dad once cause he didn't want to go to school when we were eight, but they both saw through it."

Finally finding the energy to open up his eyes, Draco saw who were in front of him: his twin sister, his best friend and his sister's friends.

Aurora, who was sobbing joyfully into Blaise's shoulder, screaming things like 'thank Merlin he's alive' or 'I don't have to write a funeral speech now' as Blaise was trying to calm her down the best he could. Ron was sighing, muttering things about how he wished Draco had turned out to be brain dead for the rest of his life. Ginny and Hermione were drinking tea and eating some raspberry scones at the other side of his bedroom, while Harry was looking out the window, as he seemed to be watching something - or someone.

"W-what happened?" Draco asked feebly, turning to face his golden-haired sister.

This bit of relief only made Aurora cry louder and squeal so that Ron and Blaise had to shut both their ears. Ginny and Hermione turned around to glance at Draco before returning to their business, while Harry barely noticed at all.

"Mum!" Aurora yelled hoarsely through her tears. "Mum! He's alive!"

At that moment, Narcissa Malfoy dashed in through the bedroom door, put a tray in front of her now-awakened son. On the tray was a plate full of long strands of noodles with a bunch of random herbs and spices thrown into it.

"Oh Draco!" she shrieked, shaking the whole house. Ginny, Harry and Hermione turned around and started sniggering while Ron dashed away from the bed as far as he could. "I haven t seen you since that party Aurora had, and oh, the last couple of days - "

"He was only out for about a couple of hours," Hermione announced, but Narcissa took no notice of her.

" - were such a terrible, terrible mess! Here's something to umm... make the hangover less painful. I wanted to use a couple of potions, but I thought this might work much better. Trust me, I know that much too well. Oh darling, I hoped you were alright, and here you are, you - "

Where s Father? Draco whispered.

"Off on a business trip to Iceland or something like that," Aurora shrugged. And he's gone for the rest of the summer. Thank Merlin! We should celebrate."

"Aurora Beatrice Malfoy!" Narcissa shrieked. "Don't you dare say that about your father!"

"He tried to make us believe in all that Pureblood supremacy crap! Not to mention that Lord Voldemort was dead when I was three months old - "

"Language, Aurora! And don't say his name!"

"What are you talking about, Mum? He's already dead, and he's not a ghost last time I checked - "

"Don't you know it's still a criminal offense to say his name?"

"I don't see any Ministry letters around me! So no, it is not a criminal offense."

As the tension between the two Malfoys increased, Draco, annoyed by their umpteenth fight in three days, groaned loudly. "Is there anything else that can make this day worse?" he moaned.

"We're all staying over at the Manor for the holidays," Blaise smirked, staring at Aurora, who was probably itching to hex Narcissa by the look on her face. "We're all sleeping in our Marriage Law couples, except for my dear Aurora and I, who are staying in the same room. The Weasleys are in a room together, and Potter and Lovegood are too, except Lovegood is off chasing some crazy creatures - Thestrals, I think they are called - in the garden right now, that crazy chick. That means you and Granger share the same room. Look, it is her bed, after all, right next to yours."

He pointed to a neat white bed next to him, with Hermione's brown trunk on top of it. On the bedside table, there was a worrying tall pile of books. Draco looked grudgingly at Hermione, who gave him a sharp glare that had 'I-did-not-plan-this' written all over it before returning to talk to Ginny.

"And what is this, Mother?" Draco asked, pointing to the bowl in front of him.

"This is a recipe from Thailand," Narcissa grinned. Draco sighed; his mother had been obsessed with Thailand ever since he was two. "It s called drunken noodles, how appropriate! I got the recipe from a friend, and I made it by myself. Have a taste, my dear."

Draco sighed as he took the fork on the tray and twirled it around the noodles. He then put the fork into his mouth and slurped the noodles as fast she could and swallowed it. Narcissa, scared of the outcome, hid behind Aurora s back, who was raising her eyebrow at her brother s unusual demeanor.

"Not too bad Mother," he said gracefully, an edge of irritation in his voice. "But please, can you leave the room? Aurora and I have some things to discuss."

Narcissa left the room abruptly (she didn't care about her son insulting her; at least he was alright), leaving Draco and Aurora to stare at each other rudely. Blaise, sensing that some big brawl was probably going to happen, then decided to play a game of Exploding Snap with Ron and Harry as a diversion, so he slowly stood up and left the twins alone.

"What?" Aurora asked, sighing.

"What do you mean what?" Draco mumbled angrily under his breath. Aurora simply raised her eyebrow innocently. "Fine, I mean, what did I do when I was drunk?"

Aurora paused. She did not want to tell him about his little incident with Hermione, but then again, she should tell, for his safety. Hermione had even wanted her to tell. _Merlin's pants,_ she thought.

After a long mental debate, and a couple of spoonfuls of her mother s drunken noodles, she knew exactly what to say and how to say it. She took a deep breath.

"You were an obnoxious little git," she bellowed. "You were laughing every time I tried to tell you to calm down, and you kept yelling insults to random girls."

"Really?" Draco smirked, acting all shocked." I was?"

"Yes you were!" Aurora shrieked. "Don't act like you cannot remember, you dirty little prat. I remember that you told Daphne Greengrass that she was a whore. Yes, Draco, she is the same ex-girlfriend you dated in Fifth Year for _five_ days, and not to mention what you called Lavender - "

Draco paused. Right when his sister started yelling about Greengrass, he stopped focusing on her never-ending rant could remember what had happened in the party. He could remember Theodore Nott passing him the firewhiskey.

_"So Malfoy," Theo smirked. "I have got a little present here for you."_

_"What is it, Nott?" Draco asked._

_"Brand-new top-notch Hennessy firewhiskey. Full to the brim. Burns in your stomach like hell. Costs you only five Galleons. If you're willing to take it, of course."_

_Draco smirked, giving Nott five Galleons. "I'll take it."_

_After drinking the entire contents of the bottle over only a matter of minutes, he could remember dragging Hermione along to play spin the bottle with some other students._

_"Hermione! Hermione!" he had laughed, dragging her wrist into the chair next to him. "Come join us!"_

_He could remember putting the magnetized clip into her cup after barely moments of thinking._

_He could also remember kissing her soft, sweet lips._

_Finding himself a couple of minutes into the future, he was dancing gracefully with her on the dancefloor, twirling her around with such ease, as if she weighed lighter than a feather. He enjoyed it, and she did too, with the huge smiles on their faces. However, when a slow song started, she had left him alone on the dancefloor, all alone._

_"Don't go!" he had said to her. She had turned around and left him anyway._

His smile faded.

" - so don't say you do not remember, Draco Malfoy! You hurt a lot of hearts in that party! And do remember to stay away from the firewhiskey next time!"

You re lying Aurora, he spoke, clearly and loudly. "I know you are. Don't object."

All the colour drained from Aurora's face, making her seem tearful and weak.

"Ron!" she shrieked angrily, pointing her finger fiercely to the door. "Blaise! Herms! Gin! Harry! I suggest you all get out of here before I hex you."

As soon as they heard their names, everybody scuffled out of the room hastily.

"I was going to see Luna anyway," Harry sighed, shutting the door behind him.

Aurora then sighed, staring at her brother sadly.

"I'm so sorry I lied," Aurora sighed. "I wanted you to get that... memory out of your mind..."

"I know that," Draco spat. "But why?"

"Hermione was freaking out! Well, in her own Hermione kind of way," his sister snarled. "She's my best friend. I wanted to make you forget about what happened to the two of you so you can have a fresh start. I want the both of you to be happy together, even though you hate each other."

"That argument is still not valid."

"I love you, Draco! You're my brother, my only brother. I don't want you to be so mentally scarred you end up cutting, or getting a mental disease or something."

"Oh please, don't you remember what happened to Aunt Bellatrix?"

"Of course I do!"

"Did I cry? No, you did."

Aurora's pale face grew even paler, and she cried on Draco's shoulder. She couldn't bear to remember the sight of her Aunt Bellatrix - who besides her crazy beliefs on Pureblood supremacy - her favourite aunt of all time, receive the Dementor's Kiss. Worst of all, she had seen it as a little girl, right in front of her very eyes, screaming and shouting. That was why she could see Thestrals, and why she was so kind to Luna Lovegood. No one at Hogwarts knew about that day, except for the Malfoys and the Tonks.

"My Aunt Bellatrix!" she screamed sadly. "Our Aunt Bellatrix... how... how dare you talk about her like that, you heartless, soulless boy - "

"Aurora, calm down, I'm - "

"Who taught us how to ride a broomstick? Who taught us to stick up for what you believed in? Who taught us that it was okay to make mistakes? Aunt Bellatrix, of course!"

"Aurora, I'm sorry - "

"You better be! She may have had her beliefs all wrong, but at least she stuck up for them!"

"I know that."

"I don't understand, Draco. How can you not think about our dead aunt and not cry about it?"

"That's because I'm a Malfoy, Rora."

"Stop laughing, Draco! This is no laughing matter!"

"Merlin's pants! I'm so sorry."

And Draco let his angry, miserable sister cry in his arms, one more time.

* * *

><p>A couple of minutes later, Aurora came out of the room, looking very puffy-eyed. Her eyes were blotched with red, and her face was paler now than to start with. She then glared at Hermione and beckoned her to Draco's room, sitting in the spot where Hermione had sat on.<p>

Looking around, she saw that Luna was sleeping peacefully on Harry's shoulder. She smiled at this, thinking about how sweet the two of them looked together. Ron was sitting in between Ginny and Luna, and he was having a debate with his sisters on how good the Cannons were. Blaise, on the other hand, simply smiled at Aurora as she sat down beside him.

When Hermione closed the door behind her, Ron stopped his debate with Ginny and he asked Aurora, "Are you alright?"

Aurora simply gritted her teeth and turned away to lean on Blaise, who simply stroked her forehead as she thought of some appropriate replies to Ron.

"Get away from me, Ronald!" she snapped before she sighed. "Or I'll hex you."

Ron put his arms behind his back, staring into the sky.

_Ahhh..._ he thought. _She's back._

* * *

><p>Inside, Hermione was shaking. Draco was looking straight at her, not knowing whether to look glad or sad she had actually come in to talk to him. She sighed, looking at him in the eye, and decided to lie down on the bed.<p>

"L-look," Draco stammered. "Umm... I'm so s-so-sorry ab-bout doing that t-to yo-you. I - "

"No," Hermione interrupted. "No, it's alright. You were drunk. When you're drunk, you will do silly things. I've been drunk before - don't ask, but please blame your sister - and I ended up dancing the tango with Harry in the middle of the Gryffindor Common Room. Aurora, on the other hand - being the abnormal person she is - will scream, shout and swear at Blaise one minute, and she's off trying to dance the salsa with him the next. So, I forgive you. No hard feelings. Though what you did was a bit more scary than what she did. And that's saying something."

The both of them laughed nervously, but it definitely lifted their spirits up just a little bit.

"Yeah," Draco grinned. "Thanks Granger."

"No problem," Hermione smiled. She then frowned a little bit. "Though you should start calling me by my first name. It's going to be weird when I call you Draco and you call me Granger. As much as I hate you, I'm going to be a Malfoy soon anyway and it's really odd if you call me by my - soon to be - maiden name."

"Fine!" Draco sighed. "Hello Her-my-oh-nee. Umm... I said it right, right?

Hermione laughed, "Yes, that is right."

"It took me years to learn how to say your name, and Aurora nearly cast the Tarantallegra Curse on me before I could. But then, with a massive burst of energy" - Draco paused to give it a bit of tension - "I finally said it right."

Hermione laughed, and Draco laughed as well, but not as lously as Hermione was. His face then fell flat. So did hers.

Draco raised a finger to his lips and Hermione - who was surprisingly, not too terribly shocked as other would've been - nodded since she instantly knew what it meant even before he had lifted up his finger by the look on his face, since Aurora had done this gesture herself a couple of times before.

_We never had this conversation._


	5. Rings and Rubies

**This is probably the longest chapter I've ever written for any story. Over 4,000 words! Hahaha... To explain a couple of things that happen in this chapter:**

**1) Harry's parents and the Marauders never died. (I love them too much for that!)**

**2) This storyline will still follow Bill and Fleur's wedding.**

**Also, there is a bit of French dialogue in this chapter which I will explain at the bottom of the chapter.**

**Enjoy! :D**

* * *

><p>A new day had started in Malfoy Manor, and as unbelievable as it seems, the previous day's (major) fiasco had been forgotten. Everything was back to normal: Ron and Aurora had started arguing about silly little things again (As awkward as it seems, though, everyone particularly enjoyed these arguments; it gave them something to talk about), Draco and Hermione never looked (or thought) at each other, while Luna still takes long walks in the gardens without anyone noticing. But this time, Harry comes with her, so people thought there was something odd going on.<p>

Harry looked at the calendar perched near the table as he made his way downstairs for breakfast. It was the 31st of July.

"We're supposed to get our rings a couple of weeks from now," he sighed, thinking of what sort of ring he should get for Luna. After all, how can you get an amazing ring for someone who barely knows what she likes herself?

"Not only that!" Aurora grinned. Everyone turned around to face her. "Don't you remember? It's Harry's birthday today!"

"Oh yeah!" Ron and Ginny smiled, thinking of what to get him. Blaise and Draco were rolling their eyes while Hermione was muttering a few things to herself. Harry, on the other hand, was slightly embarrased.

"Come on! Don't act like this," Aurora announced. "Instead of holding a birthday party for him - because of well, you know what happened yesterday - why don't we all get presents for him in Diagon Alley instead? Not only that, some of us can get our rings there too! Isn't that useful?"

Barely noticing the stares she had received, Aurora made her way down towards her seat. On her left was Blaise, as per usual. They shared some smirks with each other before sharing a short kiss. On her right, however, was Ron Weasley, who she barely looked at before starting on breakfast, which was porridge, bacon and eggs, and some pudding.

Exactly half an hour later, everyone had finished their breakfasts and they had lined up near the fireplace. They had each gotten themselves a pinch of Floo Powder and Flooed to Diagon Alley to different places, having completely different experiences on that very day.

* * *

><p><em>Potter Mansion, Godric's Hollow<em>

"Harry! How are you? We've all missed you so much!"

James Potter greeted his son with open arms as Lily and Sirius had ran all the way from the backyard to greet their most prized possession. Harry, overwhelmed by all the hugs, only laughed as he felt numerous arms across his body and his mother's lips kissing his cheeks gently.

"I'm fine!" Harry chuckled, trying to break free. "Dad, Sirius, you guys are just choking me! Mum, can you please stop kissing me? I've only been gone one night!"

James and Sirius reluctantly let go, faking faces of utter disappointment. Lily, on the other hand, chuckled.

"Do you want to see Lupin, Harry?" she asked. Her son immediately nodded.

"Remus!" James yelled.

Lupin came in through the door, hugging his only godson. Sirius laughed while James rolled his eyes. Lily was simply enjoying the sight, chuckling.

"I've missed you so much, Harry!" Lupin grinned. "How was Malfoy Manor?"

"_Cold_," Harry replied. "But I've been taking so many walks with Luna in the gardens I barely notice it."

"Sounds like you're getting to know your fiancée well," Sirius sighed. "Is she nice?"

"She has... strange beliefs," Harry replied. "But other than that, she's a joy to be around. She's not feisty, like Aurora, or too bookish, like Hermione. She's kind, considerate and she always lets me have a say in anything and everything."

"That's lovely," James smiled, looking at his only son. He then handed him a box that had been stuffed in his pocket for a while, leaving Harry confused.

"It's the Potter heirloom," James explained simply. "You give it to your fiancee a few months before the wedding. Your mother used to wear it, but we went ring shopping the other day, and she has a new ring now. This has been kept for centuries, so don't lose it."

"I won't Dad," Harry smiled, rolling his eyes. James and Sirius only laughed.

"Come on, Harry!" Lily giggled, beckoning Harry into the kitchen. "You can stay for tea, can you?"

* * *

><p><em>Madam Malkin's<em>

Luna was shopping for robes in Madam Malkin's. She got many discounts there because Madam Malkin was a regular customer of The Quibbler and were interested in its many articles on (usually nonexistent) mythical creatures.

"Luna, my dear!" Madam Malkin smiled, kissing her cheeks. "How have you been?"

"I've been fine," Luna replied, her airy voice having a little bit of irritation in it. "I've just come here to get some new robes for Hogwarts next year."

Madam Malkin stared at Luna for a second. She then raised her eyebrows.

"What's happening, Luna?" she asked curiously, measuring her arms and legs. "Go on, you can tell me. After all, I'm supposed to enforce owner-customer confidentiality. Not to mention I was your friend ever since you were five years old."

Luna sighed, "Can we talk somewhere else?"

Madam Malkin nodded. She then quickly ran to a door at the other end of the store, closed it behind her and locked it tight, putting her back against it.

The room was dark, but it had some light streaming through the almost nonexistent windows. It felt hot and stale inside, but Luna could find some places to breathe.

"Sorry for the uncomfortable hiding place," Madam Malkin whispered. "But it's all I've got."

Luna nodded, "It's alright."

And awkward pause began. "What did you want to tell me, Luna?"

"Harry and I are getting married."

Shocked, Madam Malkin lifted her hands to her mouth, covering her gaping mouth. "Oh my!"

"It's a bit of a hassle," Luna dreamily smiled. "Even more so than finding a Crumple Horned Snorkack. I don't mind him, really. He's always been so nice. I just have a problem finding a ring that he would like."

Madam Malkin nodded, "Ah. Someone like Harry Potter? Hmm... I think he should have something simple, but it has to be very elegant at the same time. Come."

Madam Malkin led Luna out of the hot, stale room as she directed her assistants to do their work and she led her to another hidden room at the bottom of a mysterious set of stairs. At the bottom of those stairs was a room, a room full of exquisite necklaces, rings, bracelets and earrings.

"Wow," Luna whispered. "Are you sure you haven't got any trapped Futterwackens in here?"

"Futter_what?_" Madam Malkin asked curiously. "That sounds like something very rude, Luna. And I do not tolerate that sort of rudeness, even from you."

"No, Madam. Certainly not that. Fut. Ter. Whack. _Ens_," Luna replied angrily, emphasising every syllable. "They're invisible spirits that inhabit shiny things, like gold and silver rings because they love to eat their invisible glows."

Madam Malkin nodded and passed Luna a ring with a shiny ruby on it and made her grasp the ring tight.

"Don't lose it, Luna," Madam Malkin whispered. "It's extremely valuable."

"I won't," Luna smiled airily, putting the ring in her pocket. "Unless the Futterwackens come and get it."

* * *

><p><em>Zabini Manor, England<em>

Blaise found himself in his home. He then looked around to see if his mother was there too. He had a certain way of looking so that he knew his mother was there, but nobody else knew how.

Nope, she wasn't.

He then walked down slowly to his mother's room. It was big and dull. The walls were dark grey, like Aurora's eyes, though they didn't look as friendly. The bedsheets of his mother's king-sized bed were the purest white he could think of. The furniture - like the wardrobe and the dressing table - were black. Just the way he remembered it.

He walked over to his mother's dress closet. He opened it. The first thing he saw was his mother's first engagement ring that his father gave her. He smiled. In a way, his mother had reminded him of Ginny, which was technically a good thing. They were both graceful and pretty but they had an attitude to them.

The ring he wanted to give her matched her hair. It was made of the most intricately cut cube shaped ruby known to wizardkind. The silver band around it was only a matter of decoration. He gently pocketed it as he made his way back to the fireplace at the other side of the hallway.

* * *

><p><em>Knockturn Alley<em>

"What the fuck - ?"

Ginny Weasley found herself at one of the Floo fireplaces in Knockturn Alley, the place she had vowed to her parents she would avoid. Confused, she walked the streets, trying to look for any signs of Diagon Alley.

_I swear in the name of Merlin I said Diagon Alley clearly enough!_ she thought. _How the hell am I supposed to go back now?_

She then found something on the floor as she was trying to hide her face from the stray figures trying to approach her. It was shining a bright white light that stood out in the middle of the cold, dim atmosphere of the streets.

She then ran to the object and picked it up, ignoring the stares that she came across on her way. It was a ring. A platinum, diamond ring. The gemstone size matched Blaise's fingers and so did the ring size. She checked it closely.

She pocketed it, continuing her walk. She saw that most of the shops were really, really odd. _Borgin & Burkes_, one of the signs yelled. She froze at the sign, gazing at her ring. _It can't be from such a terrible shop_, she thought. _It can't._

"Hey Ginny!"

Ginny turned around. It was Hagrid. She smiled, running towards him.

"Hagrid!" she smiled, giving her friend a big hug. "Thank Merlin you're here!"

"Too right I am!" Hagrid sighed, keeping Ginny away from the stony faces that were watching them. "What are ye doing 'ere, Ginny? I thought ye promised yer 'rents ye'd stay outta here!"

"Floo trouble," Ginny replied firmly. "I didn't say Diagon Alley clearly enough."

Hagrid nodded, "It's alright. Everyone makes mistakes."

Ginny smiled, "What are you doing here, Hagrid?"

"I just got some food for the creatures at Hogwarts," he replied. "Sadly, yeh can't find 'em anywhere but Knockturn Alley."

Ginny only laughed emptily. "Can we just get out of here?"

* * *

><p><em>Gringott's Bank, Diagon Alley<em>

"Name, please?"

"Malfoy, Draco."

"Ahh, Mister Malfoy! What brings you here today?"

Draco sighed. _Honestly,_ he thought. _If these Gringott's goblins were going any slower, they'd be dumber than Crabbe and Goyle combined. I should tell Father about this._

"I have something to withdraw," he replied nonchalantly. "From vault five zero six."

"Do you have the key?" the goblin asked suspiciously. Draco took a key from his pocket and dangled it in front of the goblin's very eyes. It nodded before leading Draco to a cart. Draco stepped inside it and watched the scenery as it changed from the the sepia surroundings of the bank to the dark, eerie scenery of the ground.

Draco liked the artificial breeze that was gained from the sheer speed of the cart. It helped him relax. He watched the vault numbers fly past him: zero five zero, one twenty, three sixty eight...

Five zero six.

Draco went inside the vault. It was full of the Malfoy gold that was kept for centuries on end. He knew that one day, it would be divided in half because of his sister, but even then, it would still seem endless.

_Dammit_, he thought. _Where the hell is it?_

Besides all the gold inside, theere was treasure from all over the world his ancestors had collected. There were rings, goblets, swords, gold coins. There was such an uncountable amount of them in the vault they could be worth more than the Ministry.

He knew what to get for Hermione. It was a long lost family heirloom, said to be the most beautiful ring the Wizarding world had ever seen. The only place anyone could find it was in this very vault, buried beneath centuries of treasure. He couldn't just give up looking for it! The future Mrs. Malfoy deserved the best in anything and everything, no matter how much he hated her.

He found it. After hundreds of years of searching by all the Malfoys, he, Draco Lucius Malfoy, found the ring.

"We can go now," he said to the goblin, locking the door behind him.

* * *

><p><em>Oxford Street, Muggle London<em>

Hermione had spent the last hour looking for Oxford Street all over Muggle London. She had boarded all thirteen lines of the Tube and back and she couldn't find it. At least, until she saw the street sign hanging to her right once she dropped herself at Bond Street station.

_What the - ?_ she thought furiously, thinking of her stupidity. _And all this time I've been travelling all over London it was right in front of me..._

Hermione walked down the street. The boutique stores reminded her of her childhood; she would spend hours staring at the shop windows, having a look at all the amazing clothes in store for her. She memorized all the shop names: from Swarovski to Top Shop to Urban Outfitters.

Unknown to everyone else (except for Aurora, who has actually been her before), Hermione Granger liked shopping and fashion. She knew what was in, what was out and what not to wear. (For example, never ever wear a Viking outfit.) That was the case in both worlds, but in the Wizarding world, she had help from both Ginny and Aurora.

She stopped by a large shop with a large sign reading in _Faraway_ in loopy handwriting. Muggles of all shapes and sizes were walking past it like it wasn't there. It was the only upstate Wizarding shop in London that wasn't anywhere near Diagon Alley. It sold Wizarding designer dresses, shoes and jewellery. Hermione had gotten her dress for the Yule Ball here, only at the time she got it, it was for her cousin's wedding.

As she stepped inside the shop, Hermione realized that not much has changed. The displays still changed about every few seconds, and the ceilings still seemed high and grand, painted to loko like the sky. The lighting still felt like the sunset, and the walls were still painted with scenes from around the world. There were many witches in classy Muggle clothes looking around at the dresses and the shoes, looking at the items joyfully. The only that really changed was what was on display. This place made Hermione feel poor, which is ironic since she was very rich and she could afford most of the things in this shop.

"Miss Granger!"

A small young lady ran towards Hermione. She had puffy black hair and bright blue eyes. Hermione raised her eyes until she remembered who it was...

"Apple!" she smiled, hugging the small woman. "I haven't seen you in years! How have you been?"

"I'm good," Apple laughed. "What brings you here today, Hermione?"

"Umm... I want to get a brand-new ring," Hermione quickly spoke, choosing her words as carefully as a bat. "For a friend. Preferably charmed to meet anyone's sizes, because, to be honest, I don't know his ring size, so yeah. I think the gemstone should be a bit big, so maybe - "

"Whoa!" Apple announced. "Don't you know how terribly you babble when you're nervous? Other than that, what colour gemstone do you want?"

"Any colour that matches pale grey eyes, I suppose," Hermione replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Either that or green."

"I'd buy something green if I were you," Apple nodded, pointing to a bunch of counters with numerous rings behind the glass cases. There were a few young witches gazing longingly at the rings, talking about which ring they wanted if their boyfriend proposed.

"Sure," Hermione smiled. The two ladies walked slowly to the counters, while Apple looked around at the rings and she finally picked one out for the hundreds that she could have possibly picked out.

"Here," she said joyfully, passing the ring to Hermione. The latter was shocked: it was a slightly big, dark green gemstone. The ring had a bronze band around it. Hermione smiled, nodding to the other as she was on the verge of tears.

"Fifty Galleons," Apple joyfully replied as they reached the counter. Hermione's jaw dropped.

"But this thing is worth thousands!" she protested. Apple only laughed.

"I'll give a three hints that consists of three words that I'm sure you've heard of. Mega. Summer. _Sale_," she chuckled as Hermione gave her the money rolling her eyes. "See you soon, Herms!"

* * *

><p><em>Madam Jennifer's Joyous Jewellery, 17 Diagon Alley<em>

Unsurprisingly, the most affordable jewellery store in Diagon Alley was flooded with students trying to find rings for their fiances.

Ron Weasley was definitely one of them.

As he stood out from the fireplace, he nearly tripped, trying not to knock himself onto the display cases nearby, trying to have a look at some of the rings. There was a problem. There was no place to stand to get a good look at those rings.

_Bloody hell,_ he thought.

Ron looked around when he could finally put both feet down, and he found a ring that she would love. The problem was that it was perched on top of the only shelves nobody bothered to look through. He took a closer look at it, and he saw that it matched Aurora's eyes.

_Her beautiful grey eyes._

The ring was made of an excruciatingly complicated pattern of extremely small diamonds which made the pattern of the most beautiful flower in the world, according to him.

_The Lancaster rose._

_Wait,_ he thought. _Wasn't that Aurora's birthday flower?_

"Hey Ron!" a cheerful yelled from behind him. "How have you been?"

Ron jerked around to simply see Neville carrying two rings in each hand, trying to figure out which one he should pick for Hannah. Ron, realizing it was just a friend, sighed in relief.

"Neville!" Ron yelled in irritation. "Bloody hell! You nearly jumped the life out of me!"

"I-I'm sorry," Neville mumbled. "I-I didn't mean to."

"That's alright," Ron sighed sadly.

"Are you here because you want to pick out a ring for Aurora?" Neville asked hopefully.

"Yes," Ron replied bitterly. _Why else would I be here? I don't even _like_ jewellery._

"Let me see!" Neville yelled excitedly. Ron muttered something under his breath before showing Neville the beautiful ring he had gotten for Aurora.

"Wow," he whispered. "That ring is gorgeous! I must say, even she might actually like it! I suggest you go to that counter now before someone else tries to take it before you buy it. I won't mind shopping alone. But I must ask you, out of these, which one's better?"

"The one with the flower on it," Ron replied, pointing to a ring wth a thin silver band with a simple flower pattern on it.

"Thanks, Ron!" Neville beamed, leaping up to hug the tall redhead. "You're a lifesaver!"

Ron only nodded and walked slowly to the counter with the ring in his pocket, leaving an extremely excited Neville behind.

* * *

><p><em>Les belles étoiles, 1789 rue Rochelle, Wizarding Paris, France<em>

Aurora stumbled from the fireplace, nearly knocking over a pile of displays nearby. Thankfully, she straightened herself up before she could do any harm. She didn't want to look (or feel) any more out of place, since her home robes were not as fancy as the ones people in this place usually wore.

She looked around the store. There were beautiful rings made of rubies, sapphires, emeralds. Most people would stare in amazement at such a sight, but because she had went to this store herself countless times, she simply walked around the place and stared at the rings as if they were normal.

This was probably the most beautiful jewellery store in the world. No. It _was._

Making her way up to the counter as she made her way through the countless, she saw a familiar face. It was pudgy, blotched with red and wrinkly, with pin straight brown hair hanging down to the bottom of her head. She wore glasses with a linked chain around her neck, making her look older than she already was.

"Mademoiselle Aurora," the lady grinned.

"Madame Celine," Aurora smiled. "How nice to see you."

"Oui, _ma chérie_," Madame nodded. "What brings you here today?"

"Wouldn't you believe it, Celine?" Aurora whispered, keeping her voice low. "The Ministry - of Britain, obviously - had reinstated the old Marriage Law."

"Really? _Mon dieu_!" Celine mumbled, looking terribly shocked. "That must be très, très terrible! So, what's the point of this new law that brings you here?"

"If we don't get our rings by August 17th, they're going to give us these plain, gold, rubbish ones," Aurora hesitated. "Father told me. Which is why I need your help to choose one for me before I get something rubbish."

"Umm... which one did you get partnered up to, _ma biche_?"

Aurora sighed, "Ron Weasley."

Celine put her hand on her mouth. "That annoying toerag, as you described him? How?"

"Don't ask me! How am I supposed to know?" Aurora frowned, trying to stray away from the subject. "Anyway... do you have anything orange? It matches his hair."

"_Oui_," Celine nodded. She then went to a room in the back for a couple of minutes, then she brought out two small boxes. She opened them up, showing two very different rings inside.

"This one," she pointed to the left, a plain, silver ring band with a gigantic gemstone sticking out of it. "Golden sapphire. Fresh. Perfect clarity, colour and cut. Look here - only a true professional can tell the difference. 20-carat. Pure silver band."

"On the other hand, this one - " she pointed to the right, a silver ring band with a spherical gemstone that looked like a Quaffle on it. The gemstone was slowly making a spinning motion. " - is quite flawless. 24-carat Tiger's Eye. Everything... it's flawless. You know what, you should have this one. Would you like to encarve his initials into it?"

"Sure. And can you put some little pieces of Baltic amber inside?"

"Oui," smiled the old woman. She muttered a few charms under her breath, and in a few seconds, the ring itself had turned from beautiful to absolutely, positively stunning. RW, it had said. With the initials, it looked over a million times better. Aurora smiled at the obviously grinning old lady.

"Oh, thank you!" she grinned. "How much is it?"

"Free of charge!" Celine replied joyously. Aurora's jaw dropped open.

"But... b-but..."

"If I am not mistaken," Celine recited seriously. "The Malfoys have been loyal customers of mine ever since this shop was set up. And that was a long time ago. I've always wanted to do a Malfoy a favour, and now, I have paid you my debt."

"Are you sure?"

"I am indeed."

Aurora, still stunned, stammered, "T-Thank you, C-Celine. I-I r-really o-owe y-you for that."

Taking the box in her hand and putting it in her pocket, Aurora simply walked around the store to see a familiar blonde figure looking at the necklaces section. The figure turned around, and she yelled -

"Aurora, _ma chérie_! What 're you doing 'ere?"

Aurora and the woman hugged. It was Fleur Delacour. Her long, curly light blonde hair was let loose, draping her chest perfectly. She was wearing a light blue robe made out of expensive Chinese silk. Her ears had blue-ish stones coming out of them Aurora recognized as the sapphire earrings she had given Fleur at the Triwizard Tournament in her Fourth Year. The earrings were a mark of the beginning of their friendship, when Aurora had stopped calling Fleur rude names and vice versa.

"Fleur, tu regardes fantastique! Et cher! Pourquoi?"

"I've just attended _un bal_ and I felt like treating myself to _quelques beaux bijoux_," Fleur grinned, showing off her extremely improved accent. "My fazzer organized one, full of France's most rich wizarding families. C'etait genial! Ze food was fantastique!"

"I can tell by the smile on your face. Even for a ball with the Queen, I still thinks the robe looks a tad expensive for that."

"Ah, zat's 'cause I went with Bill. I wanted to make myself look pretty."

Aurora's jaws dropped. "B-Bill? As in Bill Weasley?"

"The one and very zame."

"B-But I thought he was in Gringott's!"

"I'm too, to improve my English. Zee?"

Aurora simply laughed at this. "I can tell. But other than that ball, what on earth are you doing in France?"

Fleur looked around, checking if anyone was watching, and she dragged Aurora to an empty corner of the store.

"Do not scream," Fleur whispered. Aurora nodded.

"Bill and I are engaged. He came 'ere to tell _mes parents_."

"Oh," Aurora sighed. "Well done! That's good!"

"You don't zeem zo shocked."

"Of course not! You and Bill are perfect for each other!"

"I know... but zere's something else you're 'iding."

Aurora looked down on the floor. "W-What do you mean, Fleur?"

"You're 'iding something. I can ask someone else if you won't tell me - "

"Fine!" she whispered. "Ron and I are getting married! There!"

Fleur laughed. "No," she chuckled. "No. You can't possibly 'ate him one 'ear and love him ze next!"

"You can't prevent it though," Aurora sighed, on the verge of tears. "I-It's the Law. That's why I'm here in the middle of the summer on Harry's birthday: to get his ring. I've already got a present for Harry."

Fleur sighed, "Ze Olde Marriage Law - " - Aurora burst into giggles at Fleur's fake voice - " - zat is zomething I found to be très, très ludicrous!"

Aurora nodded, "I agree! But hey - at least you'll be my sister-in-law!"

The two girls laughed before Fleur waved a beaming Aurora back before she disappeared into the acrid green flames.

* * *

><p><strong>Some French terms that should be explained:<strong>

**Fleur, tu regardes fantastique! Et cher! Pourquoi? - Fleur, you look fantastic! And expensive. Why?**

**Ma biche, ma chérie - my honey, dear, darling (It was used in a series of films by Louis de Funes)**

**Un bal - a ball (as in a party, not the sphere)**

**Quelques beaux bijoux - some beautiful jewellery**

**If you need anymore help, don't hesitate to PM me. :)**

**- nietsmmar x**


	6. Despair and Duels

**A/N: I think this is probably my longest update. *sigh* Blame school, but thankfully, the summer hols are fast approaching! Yay! This chapter is a bit slow at first, but trust me, the end is pretty cool. ;)**

**- nietsmmar x**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I'd be sitting in a pile of Galleons, wouldn't I?**

* * *

><p>The rest of the holidays past by uneventfully, unless you count Aurora, Draco and Hermione getting their Apparition licenses in early August. They all passed with flying colours, something everyone had expected of them. To show off his Apparition skills, Draco decided to Apparate to King's Cross on his own, while Hermione and Aurora both decided to go in the exquisite Malfoy carriages with everyone else.<p>

It was the morning of the first of September, and Aurora had just finished packing. Her trunks were already downstairs, ready to go. Her friends were busy with other things she didn't particularly bother about. Instead of talking and bothering them, like she always did, she was simply sitting outside in her garden, feeling the breeze and watching the clouds go by. To think, it felt like yesterday she entered her first year of Hogwarts, was sorted into Gryffindor, and she met her two best friends: Hermione and Harry, and her worst enemy turned forced fiance, Ron. It hurt her to think about the memories of Hogwarts; not because it was painful to think she might not see those people again if they were whisked away from her, it was painful to think that she would never be able to be in the place she spent most of her youth in.

Behind her, Luna was walking, talking to her invisible friends. Only to Aurora, they weren't invisible like they were to every other friend. She could see the ghostly, misty figures of the Thestrals, and it made her smile. She watched Luna playfully talk to them, and she stood up and walked slowly to the open field to join her.

"Hey there Luna," Aurora smiled, walking up to Luna and the Thestrals. "How are the Thestrals today?"

"They're fine Aurora," Luna whispered, feeding something to the Thestrals. Aurora winced. "Go on, give them an apple. They won't bite."

Luna passed Aurora an apple, which the grey-eyed girl slowly put up to the Thestral's mouth, holding her head back. The Thestral simply ate the apple, avoiding Aurora's hand, and he simply nodded towards her. She chuckled and left Luna alone to play with the Thestral by herself.

"You do know that she could get arrested for being with one of... _those_, right?"

Aurora jumped slightly, turning around to see her brother behind her. He was smirking from ear to ear, as if it was his plan all along. She only nodded firmly, her eyes narrowing, walking away from him. Draco then grabbed her wrist, making her turn around and grab it off him.

"Get off me!" she whispered furiously, pushing her brother's arm off her. That only made Draco laugh and grip her wrist tighter and tighter.

"You're still mad about last night, aren't you?" he asked sneakily.

"Why would I be mad?" she replied doubtfully.

"Please," Draco laughed, letting her wrist go. "For a Malfoy, you sure do wear your heart on a sleeve."

"Just leave me alone," she whispered, trying walking up to the Manor alone. "Just because I'm a Malfoy doesn't mean I have to be an utter git."

"You're just sad because Zabini abandoned you, is that right, my darling sister?"

"Shut the fuck up. And besides, have you heard of the word _premeditated_? And don't call him by his last name! It's rude!"

"Yes, I've heard of the word. And I bet you're only saying that. I bet if I ask him right now he'd say that he broke up with you 'cause you're a total arse, end of story."

"No, he would say 'Aurora and I had talked about it when the Marriage Law was reinstated and we decided to break up before school starts.' But of course, unlike me, he is good at hiding his emotions."

"I see."

Blaise heard Aurora and Draco's argument, turning the twins to turn around to see him standing on the edge of the garden. Draco's eyes widened in fear, while Aurora only stared at him, mouthing millions of apologies.

"You two," Blaise angrily announced, looking at the twins. "Have _got_ to sort this stupid argument out. Draco, yes, our break-up was premeditated. Aurora, I am not hiding my emotions. I just have no fucking idea how to deal with them.

"You guys aren't children anymore. In all my years of being your friends, I've never seen your guys _not_ argue. _Ever_. So can you guys at least shake hands and not argue?"

Aurora and Draco looked at each other, sighed, and shook hands. Blaise smirked and patted both of them on the back before kissing Aurora's forehead gently, which made her smile and Draco gag.

"You know that no matter what," Blaise whispered to Aurora. "There will be no other couple like us, right?"

"Of course," Aurora smiled. "But it's time we let go of each other. Make the best of the situation we're in now."

Blaise and Aurora held each other closely, mentally agreeing to what she had said, but then she let go and went back to the Manor. He went in the other direction, towards the carriages. Draco sighed, knowing that they will need a lot of time to forget about what they had with each other, now that they are thrust into marriages they didn't want. He turned around to go back into the Manor when he saw the tall skinny figure of Ron Weasley and his flaming red hair.

"What do you want, Weasley?" Draco said bitterly.

"Why is Aurora sulking, Malfoy?" Ron yelled. "I just saw her almost crying, for fuck's sake! As sappy as it sounds, I don't like her when she sulks. It makes her more likely to hex people, especially me."

"Why do you care?" Draco laughed bitterly. "I thought you liked her as sad as an elephant. As far as we're concerned, Aurora and Zabini are no more."

Ron's jaw dropped. "They broke up? After all these years?"

"They did. Last night," Draco sighed. "Come on, I'll tell you how. Unless you don't want to hear it. After all, Weasley - please don't kill me - it was partly my fault and - "

"Shut up," Ron snarled, shaking his head. _Why would Malfoy be such an arse to do such a thing?_ "Tell me what happened."

* * *

><p><em>10:30pm, Aurora and Blaise's room<em>

_There was a feast outside to celebrate the last day of the holidays, and most of the teenagers were downstairs having a bit of punch and counting the hours down until they were back on the Hogwarts Express. At least, everyone except Blaise and Aurora. They weren't in the mood to party since they knew it was their last night together as a couple. So, they snuck some food and firewhiskey upstairs onto their room while nobody was paying attention. They had been up there for a while, but they haven't really eaten anything. They were too busy talking to each other about what they wanted to do in the future. However, they had talked about that - and everything else for that matter - in the span of thirty minutes._

_"I've always wanted to travel all over the world," Aurora lazily smiled, drinking her third shot of firewhiskey. "Asia, Europe, America, you name it."_

_"I'd much rather stay in England," Blaise sighed, making Aurora roll her eyes. "More specifically, in Zabini Manor. It's nice and big, full of food, and I know it very well. I'm too tired to go around beaches and go hiking."_

_"Blaise," she whispered seriously. "Just because we're getting married off to other people we don't like doesn't mean you have to act so idiosyncratically to me. I hate all this crap talk you're giving me. It's our last night to be, well, _us_. So don't ruin it."_

_"I'm sorry. It's just that, well, time travels too fast for me to keep up. Blame that, not me!"_

_"Ah. Now that sounds more like the Blaise Zabini I know."_

_"And absolutely love."_

_The two of them laughed. It definitely lightened up their hearts a little bit. Aurora smiled genuinely for the first time ever since they were stuck in her room, which was odd, since she always smiled. She and Blaise both decided to take another shot of firewhiskey, knowing that the chances of them getting wasted are slim, since they're so used to it it's abnormal. The two of them then exchanged a knowing look before Aurora laid down on her bed on the verge of tears._

_"Why do they have to have this stupid Marriage Law?" she mumbled, the tears starting to fall from her face. "I know the population of the Wizarding worldhad been lessened dramatically, but still. If they can't stop this law coming, can't they just stop school for a while or something?"_

_"Well," Blaise added reluctantly. "Without school, you can't see Harry and Hermione, can you? And you love them to bits."_

_Aurora froze. "Dammit Blaise," she sighed. "Why do you always win these arguments?"_

_He laughed. "That's what I do best."_

_There was an awkward silence between the two of them. The silence itself was more deafening than the gigantic party Aurora had at the beginning of the summer. And that was actually saying something._

_The two of them then actually started eating to defeat the silence that was deafening them. Aurora took a small bit of her mother's bruschetta, and she ate it slowly, crunching the rock hard bread. It tasted good to her. Blaise, on the other hand, ate a cupcake slowly, staring at his girlfriend. She only smiled back at him, telling him that she was fine._

_11:15pm_

_"Aurora," Blaise sighed, staring at his moody girlfriend. "It's nearly midnight. You should go to sleep."_

_"It's my last night with you," the blonde girl replied. "I just want to relish and immerse myself in it. You know what I mean, Blaise. Remember it because we had an amazing feast of in our bedroom. With the most impressive food I've ever tasted."_

_"That's true," Blaise laughed. He then took Aurora's head in his hands and started kissing her gently._

_The door suddenly opened with Draco's ear leaning towards the two figures on the floor. His hands were covering his ear, as if he was trying to listen to something. Aurora and Blaise broke apart from their kiss and they stared at him in confusion. It took a while for them to get it as Draco stood up and tried to look as innocent as possible, whistling._

_"What the hell are you doing, Draco?" Aurora yelled. "Why the _fuck_ are you listening to our conversations?"_

_"It's interesting," Draco laughed emptily. "How you two seem to eat, and not talk very often. As if you two can't bear the sound of each other talking."_

_"Shut up, Draco, and get out of here or you'll get hexed faster than the blink of an eye!" Blaise snarled furiously. "And that is not true. I love Aurora like a sister and a friend, and I always will."_

_"Oh _please_," Draco smirked. "Then what was all that talk with me last week about you breaking up with her, huh?"_

_Aurora raised her eyebrow. "Y-You wanted to break up with me, Blaise?" she weakly snapped._

_Blaise nodded firmly. "We have to anyway," he sighed._

_"Becuase of that stupid Marriage Law," she smiled understandably. "Umm... let's start with a couple of regrets. I'm sorry for being an arse to you."_

_"I'm so sorry for having such incessent, annoying, stupid friends - "_

"Hey!"

_" - Sorry, Draco, but I'm pretty sure I was talking. Meddlesome, _silly_ - "_

"Hey!"

_" - for Merlin's sake, Malfoy! Can you just shut up? I'm sorry for having some terrible excuses for friends."_

_"I'm sorry for annoying you with all my ridiculous little comments."_

_"I'm so effing sorry for that time I spilt pumpkin juice all over your robes."_

_"Forgiven."_

_"I forgive you too."_

_There was a deafening silence._

_"Let's just get it over with," Blaise mumbled_

_"Yeah," Aurora smiled weakly._

_She nodded after taking the smile off her face, deep in thought, staring at Blaise in his caramel eyes fiercely. He stared at her back, just as fierce._

_"Umm..." she stammered. "B-Blaise, I w-want t-to br-break up w-with you."_

_"Okay then," he sighed, and then they shared their final kiss as a couple. It was passionate and long as their heads moved slightly - it seemed to drag on for the rest of eternity - until Draco coughed loudly, breaking the two apart._

_"Can you two _stop_ that? It's utterly repulsive!" he yelled. "You two are not going out anymore. Get it? You. Are. Not. Together. Any._ More._ Come on, Blaise! Let's go join the others before you cry like a repulsive arse."_

_Blaise reluctantly joined Draco, a sad sigh leaving his lips. Before he opened the door, Draco smirked as his sister got her wand and thought about what hex to use on him. He only laughed at her, thinking that she couldn't cause much harm._

_"Verspetilio!" she yelled, pointing her wand at her brother. Immediately, his bogeys grew bigger and bigger, first covering one side of his face, then his face ended up being looking like nothing but a bunch of big bogeys that seemed to be attacking him. He ended up screaming, which caused Aurora to roar in laughter (though it was sad and empty), screaming things like 'Who's got the last laugh now?' and Blaise to immediately mutter a 'Finite' at him._

_"Deletrius," Aurora whispered. Nothing much happened that caused much effect on anything or anyone else, but no one would now be able to prove that she casted the Bat Bogey Hex on her brother._

_"Thanks Blaise. I owe you one," Draco muttered as Blaise nodded firmly. Aurora simply sighed at her brother's stupidity as she kicked the two friends out of her room to cry in silence._

_"You can sleep in the other bedroom," Draco smirked, and Blaise laughed emptily over Aurora's deafening, sad, never ending cries._

* * *

><p>"You <em>git<em>," Ron spat. "How could you do this to your own sister? You, Malfoy, are such an idiotic _prat_."

"Not my fault!" Draco smirked sarcastically, if such a thing was possible. "They would have had to sooner or later."

"You still broke them apart before they needed to!" Ron bitterly shrieked. "You knew that she loved him as much as she hates me. Merlin's beard, maybe even more than that!"

Draco raised his eyebrows. "Are you saying you care for my sister's wellbeing?"

"Of course I care!" Ron screamed, his ears turning red faster than a cheetah can run. "I'm stuck with her for the rest of my life, and I'm just trying to make at least be civil to each other, but I'm not stupid enough not to know that six years of hatred isn't going to get in between us!"

"I see. You don't secretly love her do you?"

"No!" Ron yelled, on the verge of strangling Draco. _Why the fuck would he suggest such a repulsive thing? I barely even _like_ her!_ "And I mean it! And you're not in love with Hermione either, aren't you?"

"I'm not in love with Granger! Why would you suggest such a dumb idea?"

"Nothing. I just felt like annoying you, Malfoy."

"Oh, you dirty piece of - "

Suddenly, and as quick as lightning, Ron pushed Draco onto the ground. He started punching his face until Draco pushed Ron off him and he started punching him instead. Ron didn't cry out or yelp, but he did try to block Draco's punches with not much success. The redhead, after a couple of failed attempts, managed to grab the blonde's thin hands and held them together, pushing him abruptly off him. The two boys stood up, their tall figures standing out in the manor gardens. One was tall, thin and red haired, and the other was tall, broad and blonde.

"This is too primitive for people like us," Draco muttered. "We're not Muggles, we don't do wrebling - "

"_Wrestling_, Malfoy - "

" - whatever, we duel. With wands, of course. No seconds, since there's no one about. Duel or not?"

"It's a duel alright," Ron said through gritted teeth.

The two boys bowed down to each other and took out their wands in their right hands, staring at each other fiercely. They turned around in a circle, until Ron raised his wand.

_"Stupefy!"_ Ron yelled.

_"Protego!"_ Draco snapped.

_"Rictusempra!"_

_"Levicorpus!"_

_"Liberacorpus!"_

_"Tarantallegra!"_

_"Finite Incantatem!"_

_"Serpensortia!"_

_"Depulso!"_

_"Everte Statum!"_

_"Protego!"_

_"Expelliarmus!"_

A jet of red light flew towards Draco's ten-inch hawthorn wand and threw it a couple of feet away, but it wasn't from Ron, who was raising his eyebrow and looking at his wand. It was too far back to be him, not to mention it was from the wrong direction. The two boys turned around and their jaws dropped.

It was Aurora, looking as red as Ron's hair. Her holly wand was held above her shoulders, right below her bright red ears. She looked as if she had just cried (which she probably did). Her face was scrunched up in an angry expression, looking like she was ready to kill them, and she was panting heavily. Her grey eyes - darker than usual - looked menacing as she stared deeply at the boys.

"What the fuck did you two think you were doing?" she yelled angrily. "Duelling in the middle of the garden! Thank Merlin Luna wasn't around to see you; I ushered her into the Manor ages ago! You two could've killed each other, for Merlin's sake - "

"We were supposed to," Draco mumbled under his breath.

" - for heaven's sake, just shut the _fuck_ up, Draco! I understand, Ronald, that you obviously don't know that Mummy doesn't like her flowers ruined, but you do now, so don't do that ever again, understand? But you, Draco, have known for years! How dare you destroy Mummy's hard work? I'm not going to yell at you anymore, being the nice person I am, so I suggest you get to the carriages before I hex you both into oblivion. _And I mean it."_

"Fine," the boys chorused, going to the carriages in the on the side of the Manor, leaving the more-than-happy Aurora with a huge smirk on her face.


	7. Villas and Very Early Weddings

**A/N: Bonjour, mes amis! After days of writing, I've finally wrote this entire chapter. I hope you like it! And here is an answer to one of my reviews.**

**Kalianna Loralei: The reason Ron and Aurora hated each other is because on the train in their First Year, Ron accused Aurora of being like Draco, which Aurora is not. She takes this very seriously, telling Ron about what she felt on that subject, but he doesn't believe her and a gigantic rivalry begins. I hope that helped! :)**

* * *

><p>The ride to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express, unexpectedly, was quiet and not full of unexpected things as it usually is. The different thing about this ride was that the Sixth and Seventh Years had three entire carriages to themselves, and each road (from Albus Avenue to Banshee Street to Cistem Circle) had their own compartments, which they were supposed to share with their neighbours. But since Aurora, Ginny, Luna and Hermione were so fed up with Ron, Blaise and Draco (They were still alright with Harry) since they spent all of their summer with them, they ended up sitting in Peverell Park with Hannah, Lavender (Aurora and Lavender, despite Lavender being Ron's ex-girlfriend, never let their relationship affect their friendship and stayed firm friends), Parvati and Padma. Meanwhile, the four boys in Albus Avenue were joined by Dean, Seamus, Theodore and Neville.<p>

"Hey, you guys!" Lavender grinned, beckoning the four young girls to sit next to her. "Come over and sit with us!"

Hermione sat on Aurora's left, while Lavender and Parvati were on her right. Luna was on Hannah's left, while Ginny and Padma were on her left. Today, Hermione had held her hair back with a red headband, Ginny held her hair back with clips, Hannah had some of her hair tied up, the Patil twins tied their jet black hair in sleek ponytails, while everybody else let their hair go the way they are.

"How was your summer?" Hannah smiled sweetly. "Mine was alright, I guess. Neville and I got to know each other, and to be honest, I think he's alright. He stopped all the romantic things he did in the party, and I like him better that way. Merlin, he's so bloody sweet!"

"I told you so!" Aurora laughed, beaming at Hannah. She then turned to Lavender. "How did your summer go, Lav? Was it good?"

"Yeah... you all know who I got partnered up with, didn't you?" Lavender asked.

Everyone shook their heads except for the Patils, whose eyes simply sparkled.

"I got Seamus Finnigan," Lavender replied, smirking.

Aurora and Ginny squealed, staring at each other in shock, Hannah started crying joyfully while Luna and Hermione, who weren't paying attention, simply smiled at Lavender and muttered congratulations before going back to read whatever book they were reading. Lavender and Seamus had been friends since the first train ride to Hogwarts, and they had always gotten along without a fight.

"Dear Merlin!" Aurora whispered excitedly. "How did you feel when you got partnered up with him? I bet you were in bloody paradise!"

"Of course!" Lavender grinned from ear to ear. "I got my best guy friend for the past six years! When we found out, it was a total shock! We ended up getting a few Butterbeers and we went on a few dates, and he's been so accepting of this Law. Anyway, enough about me. Padma got Justin Finch-Fletchley and Parvati got Theodore Nott."

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Really? How did you deal with it?"

"Justin's alright I guess," Padma shrugged. "He's a bit awkward, but he can be really nice sometimes. We both like the Tornadoes, and we both dislike the Cannons - no offense Aurora - "

"None taken."

" - and we both like to read. Parvati doesn't like him that much. Says he's too boring for her taste. What_ever._ Theodore, on the other hand - sorry, Parvati - is just an absolute _git_. To me, anyway. He always throws stony looks at me for some reason. To Parvati, he's so sweet, sweeter than Chocolate Frogs and sugar combined. Giving her a bouquet of her favourite flowers and everything. I really think he fancies her!"

"N-no he isn't," Parvati blushed. "H-He's like th-that."

"He fancies you, Parvati!" Aurora chuckled. "He never treats me that nicely either! And I've known him for ages!"

"And by the looks of it," Hannah agreed. "You fancy him too. And I doubt it's for his looks."

"Don't talk about my fiance - or me - like that!" Parvati yelled. She then smiled sweetly. "And for your information, I do fancy him. I mean, he's so bloody charming."

"To you!" Ginny, Aurora and Padma chorused, doubled over in laughter.

"Oh dear!" Luna announced randomly, making everybody else in the compartment jump. She had been reading The Quibbler (upside down, obviously), so everyone was a bit shocked to see her actually talking. "Have the Giggle Bunnies attacked you?"

"Giggle _what?_" everyone else asked in total confusion, except for Aurora, who simply smiled.

"Giggle Bunnies," Luna recited, as if she was a textbook of nonexistent mythical creatures. "Are tiny little bunnies that will enter your brain through your ears, and they'll wriggle in your head until they find your brain, then they'll giggle in your brain until you start to giggle too. You can only stop them by not laughing for twenty-four hours."

"I see," Aurora nodded, and she looked over at everyone else with a look that said, 'It's okay' as Luna went back to reading the Quibbler.

"Anyway, what were we talking about?" Lavender mumbled. "Ah yes, our fiancés! Luna, Ginny, Aurora, Hermione, how did you guys get along?"

"Ginny and Blaise were practically nonexistent," Aurora replied solemnly. "And you all know why."

Everyone else nodded, looking at Ginny as if they wanted her to say something.

"I was fine with it," Ginny smiled sweetly. Everyone stared at her. "What? I was."

"Sure," Hannah smirked, rolling her eyes. "What about you, Hermione? How's Malfoy - "

" - Hannah, remember what I told you - "

" - Draco, then. Sorry, Rora. How's _Draco_?"

"We don't talk very much," Hermione replied sadly, looking up from her book. "He's always so sullen and sad every time we're within three feet of each other. Aurora's been trying to get him to be nice to me, but he simply won't budge."

"But he has to now though," Aurora smirked slyly. But then her smile faded. "All the couples are supposed to get along civilly. Which means every. Single. _One_. Dear Merlin! How am I going to get along with Ron at this rate?"

Hermione and Ginny groaned loudly along with Aurora, while Luna decided to tell the others about her relationship with Harry to distract the others.

"Harry and I like to walk in the gardens together," she smiled, lightening Aurora's heart. "He's really nice to me, compared to everyone else. He doesn't tell me that Thestrals don't exist, or that I'm nuts, and he never calls me Loony."

Everybody chose to ignore her when they saw the lady with her little trolley came outside of their compartment. All eight girls stopped talking and decided to figure out what they wanted from her.

"Would you lovely girls like anything today?" the lady asked with a smile on her face.

"Three Chocolate Frogs, please."

"A box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, please."

"Can I please have two packs of Chocolate Cauldrons?"

"Can I get three Liquorice Wands, please?"

"I'll have three Sugar Quills, please."

"Can I buy three packs of Bertie Bott's? Please?"

"I'd like some Pumpkin Pasties, please."

"Can I please buy Five Chocolate Frogs? Thank you."

Everyone wrestled over their sweets as the lady with the trolley left them alone, leaving them to eat and trade Chocolate Frog Cards (or in Hermione's case, reading) for the rest of the train ride.

* * *

><p>Everybody was in the Great Hall, hustling and bustling for seats. In the middle of the chaos, Harry, Ginny and Hermione were sitting across from Aurora, Neville and Ron on the Gryffindor Table. They were talked in an upbeat tone about what their villas might have looked like. Aurora, Harry and Ginny wanted white, Victorian-style marble villas with extremely grand interiors full of antique furniture and fancy walls and floor tiles, while Hermione, Ron and Neville preferred newer buildings with Muggle exteriors but the furniture inside was completely made by Wizards. Seamus, Parvati, Dean and Lavender had joined into their conversation as well, though the four mostly talked to each other.<p>

Meanwhile, on the Slytherin Table, Draco and Pansy were sitting across from Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle. They barely said a word to one another, ignoring all the joyful chatter by the other Slytherins. They were obviously mad about the Law that had split them apart.

"The Sorting is about to begin," Professor McGonagall announced loudly to the students as a silent wave erupted over them. As sudden as an earthquake, the double doors of Hogwarts opened with all the new First Years gazing up into the ceiling. McGonagall's eyes sparkled just a little bit before she called out the first name.

"Ahlberg, Magda."

Instead of mocking the first years and figuring out their houses by the look on their faces like they usually do in Sortings, the Seventh Year Gryffindors actually paid attention. It was the last Sorting they were probably going to see in their entire lives, and what good was it to remember if they barely paid attention?

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Magda Ahlberg, a short, skinny brunette with big black streaks in her hair, smiled sweetly at the crowd and sat next to Hannah and Ernie, who was busy introducing her to the other Hufflepuffs, who were all clapping joyfully for her and trying to get to know her better.

"Brennan, Riley."

A tall, broad boy stood up in front of the Hall and put the Sorting Hat timidly on his head. He looked like Ron when he was his age, but he didn't have freckles and he had neat brown hair. He closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath, as if he was trying to avoid something. Everyone sat by him nervously as the minute dragged on, wondering which house he would be in.

_"GRYFFINDOR!"_

The entire Gryffindor Table stood up as Riley glided down the steps and sat next to Aurora and Harry, who were the Gryffindor Prefects, as they introduced him to all the other Gryffindors.

"You're Riley, aren't you?" Aurora grinned at the obviously enthusiastic boy - who nodded joyfully - as she shook his hand. "I'm Aurora Malfoy, the Gryffindor Prefect. This is Harry, the other Prefect in Gryffindor. If you have any problems with anything at all, just tell us. Harry, do you mind introducing him to the other Gryffindors? We've got another one coming."

Riley had started talking to Harry, Dean, Seamus and Neville while Aurora, Ginny and Ron were busy having a conversation with Casey Canterbury, a tall, blonde girl who looked less like a first year (which she was) and more like a third year. After they were done introducing the other Gryffindors to the two First Years, they sat next to each other and they started talking.

This Sorting was one of - if not - the most interesting the senior Gryffindors have had ever since their own. The First Years this year, they all thought, seemed eager to learn, to please, and most importantly (at least to Ron and Aurora), help Gryffindor win the House Cup for the seventh year in a row, which everyone really wanted. They all knew that some of the earlier first years were simply a terrible burden to the House.

After 'Zombadirev, Josef' was sorted into Ravenclaw, Dumbledore had finally announced that everyone could eat. As quick as a flash of lightning, Ron had immediately taken three helpings of the roast chicken and he had nearly wolfed it down. But instead of warning him like every other year, Aurora had taken to taking a small helping of everything on the table and ate it daintily, as if she was being watched.

When most people have finished eating, Dumbledore made an announcement.

"Fifth Year Prefects," he announced with a singsong voice. "Can you please escort the First Years to their dormitories? Everyone else shall go join them while I make an announcement to the Sixth and Seventh Years. I shall see the rest of you tomorrow morning in breakfast, thank you."

The Fifth Year Prefects ushered the First Years out of the Great Hall first, with yells of 'All First Year Gryffindors follow me!' and 'First Year Hufflepuffs! First Year Hufflepuffs!' ringing all over the place. The First Year Gryffindors grudgingly followed the Prefects as the Sixth and Seventh Year Gryffindors smiled sadly at them, admiring the younger children for their freedom. After they had left, the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Years followed suit, whispering amongst themselves about what could have been keeping the older students back.

"Now," Dumbledore said. "I have a surprise for you all."

Everybody leaned closer to the front of the Hall, wondering what on earth Dumbledore could say.

"You're all getting married tonight - "

_"WHAT?"_ yelled everyone in the Hall. Everyone then turned to their friends, wondering if Dumbledore had gone mad over the summer or if their ears were deceiving them.

"I haven't finished," he firmly announced. The Hall then sank into total silence.

"You are all getting married tonight, but you will still have a ceremony to celebrate outside Hogwarts."

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

"Do you all have your rings in your pockets?"

Everybody nodded and brought out the boxes with their rings inside.

"Alright. Now find your selected partner and exchange rings. Go."

The four House tables vanished, and immediately, everybody started rushing all over the room to find their partners. Ron and Aurora found each other immediately in the midst of all the chaos. They then opened their ring boxes staring at the rings they were going to give each other.

"You are _so_ lucky we're in the Great Hall or I would've hexed you to oblivion," Aurora sighed. She then pulled out her ring as Ron pulled out his left hand. She then gently slid the ring over his ring finger, letting go of his hand as soon as the ring was in place.

"Hand," Ron grunted. Aurora let out her left hand, leaving him to slide the ring into her ring finger. They looked up at each other for a moment before staring at their rings with a flicker of interest in their eyes.

Aurora was shocked with her ring. She had thought that Ron would pick something cheap and second-hand out for her. But this ring, even with her high standards, was impressive. The intricate pattern that formed the Lancaster rose - the emblem for the state of Lancaster, not to mention her birthday flower (She had learned this by reading Harry's old Divination textbooks when she was bored) - was made with tiny little diamonds with such a cut that even Madame Celine would have been impressed by. It shone brightly in the warm light that surrounded the Great Hall, giving her a bright smile on her face.

If Aurora was shocked, Ron was thrilled. He thought Aurora might have given him one of Draco's old rings, but he could tell by the condition of his ring it was brand new. It was a plain sphere, but it looked like a spinning orange Quaffle with black streaks across it. At the bottom, there were his initials: _R.W_. It looked extremely warm in the candlelight of the Great Hall.

"Umm... you have good taste in rings," Aurora whispered, breaking the silence between them. In reality, she had wanted to sceram and hug him, but she knew it would look too awkward.

"Thanks. You too," Ron muttered, his ears going red. He too wanted to hug her and give her a kiss on the cheek, but it would look too weird in front of everyone else, who knew too well how much they hated each other.

"Well," Dumbledore finally announced. "Have you all exchanged your rings?"

Everyone nodded.

"I now pronounce you and your partner husband and wife."

* * *

><p>After the ring exchange, Aurora and Ron magically found themselves in their villa. It was almost exactly how they had dreamed it.<p>

There were a cream L-shaped sofa in the living room with two armchairs of the same colour, and they were arranged in a rectangle that faced an LCD television, with a coffee table in the middle. Above the coffee table was a beautiful chandelier that reminded Ron and Aurora of the ones in Malfoy Manor. The white double doors were behind them, and if they continued on, they had an exquisite dining table with eight seats. The table was made of glass, and the chairs were sky blue, and they emitted a feeling of warmth throughtout the room. (Though this might be because there was a big window behind it with matching blue curtains) The walls were white and so were the floors.

"This is quite nice, isn't it?" Ron mumbled. Aurora nodded, barely listening to him. She simply went upstairs and looked in all of the rooms without him. He realized her absence soon after, sighed and followed her up the stairs.

A few minutes later, Ron and Aurora were unpacking their things in their bedroom. They had finished exploring the house. It had one bedroom with a bathroom, two toilets, a nursery (for a reason none of them could think of), a big library with a grand piano inside, a door which led to the Gryffindor Common Room and a reasonably large study for each of the them.

To their chagrin, it only had one bed. On the other hand, the room seemed nice. The king sized bed had teal bedsheets, and there was a teal sheet of fabric at the top with the same regal pattern as the bedsheets and the four pillows on the bed: two on each side. The pillars that held up the fabric were light blue, and they were probably inspired by Greek architecture (or so Aurora thought). The walls were a plain shade of shite and the floor was a navy blue carpet.

Ron had been showering while Aurora was putting her robes in a black wooden wardrobe. It had a big mirror in front of one of the doors so she could check herself every single morning. Her robes had been neatly arranged when Ron came out of the shower in his pyjamas. She sighed, closed the wardrobe door and decided to arrange the books for the next day. She had double Potions, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Charms and Law Classes, which she supposed were to help the couples settle into their new lives and to get to know each other better. Meanwhile, Ron had double Potions with her, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms and Law Classes.

Ron looked up at the clock. _Ten fifteen_.

"I think you should sleep now," he muttered. Aurora rolled her eyes.

"I will, as long as I get the right side of the bed," she replied. Ron was too tired to argue as he leapt up on the bed and slept on the left side.

As soon as she finished packing, Aurora summoned a few extra pillows from her wardrobe with to make a barrier between herself and Ron on the bed. He was already sleeping as soundly as anything, and she laughed at the calm expression on his face. She felt her eyes shut as she laid herself on the pillow, and fell asleep.


	8. Coffee and Classes

**A/N: Bonjour, mes amies! Ca va? Ca va tres bien, merci! :)**

**This chapter is so much fun to write, since there's finally some subtle Ron/Aurora and very, very subtle Dramione. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

**- nietsmmar**

* * *

><p>Aurora woke up and stretched her arms across the bed. She looked out at the window next to it, which she had left open through the night to let the breeze in, and after a quick look, realized that it was still dark out. She then shook her head, trying to wake herself up, and laid back down on the bed.<p>

She felt something behind her head. It was comfortable, so she adjusted her head so she could get it entirely on that thing. But there was a slight bony feeling about it, so she knew it couldn't be her pillow. She could also feel the same bony feeling on her arms and on her waist, giving her a slight sense of warmth in those places. Merlin, it felt good.

She sat up on the bed, taking the bony thing off her, but soon, she realized that she was holding a hand. She intertwined her fingers in it, realizing that they fit the spaces she had set so perfectly. She smiled sweetly, gazing at the perfect pair, but it faded when she stared down at the owner of the hand.

_What the hell is this?_

The most comfortable thing she had felt in the world - and the hand with the exact same spaces as her own - had turned out to be Ronald Weasley's arms. Dammit.

She stared up at the clock. Five forty-five.

_Classes would start in about two hours,_ she thought. _I better get up._ She then slid off the bed gently, heading towards the wardrobe for her school robes.

She didn't leave the room without moving Ron's arms towards this head, which was tilting towards the floor and kissing his cheek gently, leaving his calm body behind.

* * *

><p>Ron woke up, feeling a little bit lightheaded. He had almost forgotten where he was, until he saw the surroundings of the bedroom he had to share with Aurora. Oh yeah, he thought.<p>

He could feel the remnants of a very comfortable feeling on his arms, but he didn't know or remember what had caused it. Ignoring it, he decided to stand up from his bed and stared at the clock above the wardrobe.

_Six fifteen._

He rushed to the shower, letting the warm water drip from his body like a waterfall. It was amazing, that feeling of the water flowing down his back. It made him feel nice and refreshed, the way he liked it.

Ron walked briskly down the stairs to see Aurora making breakfast in the kitchens. (For some reason, the couples aren't allowed to have breakfast and dinner in the Great Hall. _Ah well,_ he thought) She was dressed neatly in her dress robes, and she seemed to be charming all the utensils in the kitchen to cook for her, humming a tune. Her long blonde hair flew out behind her, and he could see drips of sweat trickling down from her forehead. To him, she looked so much prettier that way -

_Whoa,_ he thought. _Did I just think that she was pretty? I seriously need to get these thoughts -_

"Ron?" Aurora's voice boomed, but her tone was calm. "Why on earth are you gaping at me like that?"

Ron stirred his head. "I'm fine," he replied quietly.

Aurora simply nodded and beckoned Ron to sit down at the dining table. He sat down, staring at the breakfast Aurora had prepared him. It was his favourite: beef bacon with eggs, sunny side up. There was also a bit of toast with orange marmalade on top, and the drink? Pumpkin juice. It was no surprise she'd known, really; spending most of your summer holidays at The Burrow had to account for something. For herself, she'd prepared a bowl of muesli, which she had added some fruits and flakes of almond to. On the side was a croissant she had probably magically baked that morning and a glass of apple juice.

The two of them ate in silence. Ron didn't wolf down his food as he usually did, but he simply ate it slowly, savouring every bite. It was Aurora who was wolfing down her food quickly; she finished her cereal and croissant in ten minutes and she then decided to read a Muggle book she had gotten over the holidays.

"What book is that?" Ron asked Aurora, who looked deeply immersed in it.

"_A Little Princess_ by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Not like you'd be interested," she replied bitterly, not bothering to look up from the book. She then put the book down, went to the kitchen for a couple of minutes and brought back to the living room a cup of something that Ron thought smelt bitter and foul.

"What is that _smell_?" Ron asked, screwing his face up in disgust. He clogged his nose and started coughing.

"It's a Muggle drink called coffee," Aurora replied haughtily, taking a large gulp. "It makes you more alert in the mornings. It doesn't taste very nice, in my opinion, but it's worth it."

Aurora finished her mug (which was, being her, was embroidered with beautiful patterns) of coffee and put it nonchalantly in the sink, humming a Muggle tune. Ron watched her as he finished his breakfast and he put his plate and glass in the sink. Now, Aurora was reading her Potions book, sighing and shaking her head.

"What's the matter?" Ron asked worriedly.

"Potions this year is as hard as finding a Snitch in a bag of Gold," Aurora sighed, flicking quickly through her copy of Advanced Potion-Making. "Draught of Living Death, Everlasting Elixirs... Polyjuice Potion? By the look of this, I think we're going to fail our N.E.. Thank Merlin we're having Professor Slughorn instead of Snape."

She grinned joyfully as she put the book in her bag and took out A Little Princess. Ron sighed, shaking his head.

"Do you do anything but _read_?" Ron asked irritably. "You're just like Hermione that way."

Instead of giving Ron nasty looks, like Hermione would, she thrust a book in his face. _Peter Pan_, he read. By J.M. Barrie. He opened the front cover and started to read.

_All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have looked rather delightful, for Mrs. Darling put her hand to her heart and cried, "Oh, why can't you remain like this for ever!" This was all that passed between them on the subject, but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end._

"You call this literature?" he yelled, throwing the book at Aurora, who looked up and narrowed her eyes at him. He knew it meant 'don't make me hex you', then swiftly opened the book again and carried on where he left off.

_Of course they lived at 14 [their house number on their street], and until Wendy came her mother was the chief one. She was a lovely lady, with a romantic mind and such a sweet mocking mouth. Her romantic mind was like the tiny boxes, one within the other, that come from the puzzling East, however many you discover there is always one more; and her sweet mocking mouth had one kiss on it that Wendy could never get, though there is was, perfectly conspicuous in the right-hand corner._

"I don't understand any of this," Ron sighed. Aurora simply laughed.

"It's about a boy who will never grow up called Peter Pan who this girl called Wendy meets, but guess what? It's all a bloody, bloody _dream_," she replied rudely, putting both her book and Ron's into her bag. "End of story."

She left the villa as the granfather clock next to the kitchen chimed seven fifteen.

* * *

><p>First days are always the worst.<p>

So far, Aurora had to write a foot and a half on the potions they had went through last year, solve ridiculous amounts of equations, translate an extremely long selected text to Ancient Runes and practice a couple of difficult charms. She had a long, long day. By the end of Charms she was exhausted but thankful when she came to Law Classes, even though this meant spending so-called 'quality time' with Ron.

The classroom for was on the third floor, so it was a very short walk from the Charms Classroom, since it was just along the corridor. It was easy to tell which class it was, since the door was decorated with moving Cupids and hearts and bows and arrows. It was surrounded by a grass arch, probably to symbolize one of those wedding arches.

As Aurora entered the classroom, she could see that everybody was aranged in their streets. She scanned the room thoroughly until she found Ginny, Blaise, Luna, Harry, Hermione, Draco and Ron sitting around a round table. She then quickly ran through the room and sat on the only empty chair.

"Alright, class! Let's begin our lesson!"

The entire class jumped by the high-pitched voice as they turned to the front. It was a tall woman who wore such tall, long dress robes you could barely see her face. If you do, you can tell it was very, very wrinkled, and her fading brown hair was tied up in a very neat bun. Her spectacles were extremely round - even more than Harry's - and you can see her black eyes bulging in the seams. Her appearance seemed to scare everyone, but her tone of voice seemed to say otherwise.

"I'm Professor Elizabeth Abercrombie," the lady said in a sweet tone, but her sullen face never seemed to change its expression. "I'm your teacher for these Law Classes. The point of these Law Classes is to let you bond with your partner and the other couples living on the same street as you. Now, are there any questions?"

Everybody shook their heads.

"Good," Professor Abercrombie smiled obviously for the first time. She clapped her hands, and all the round tables had turned into tables fit for two, and everyone was facing their partner.

"Alright then," she announced, and a sheet of parchment instantly appeared on their desks. "Your task for this lesson is to write your partner's answer down for each of these question. You have ten minutes starting... now!"

Everybody instantly turned to their partners and quills scribbled all over the page. Rona dn Aurora looked deeply into each other's eyes for a few seconds before Aurora cleared her throat and asked the first question on her parchment.

"Umm... when's your birthday?" she asked him. "Mine's June the fifth."

"March the first," Ron replied, scribbling on the parchment. Aurora looked up from hers and did the same, only she was scribbling a lot faster than he was. "I'm sure you know that. What's your favourite colour?"

"Blue, 'cause it's so calming. Any sort of blue. Sky blue, light blue, navy blue... what's yours?"

"Grey."

"Why on earth is your favourite colour so _dismal_?"

"It's calming and relazing! For me, anyway."

"Whatever, Greyhead. Oh, this is interesting... what Quidditch team do you support?"

"Chudley Cannons."

"Tornadoes."

"I bet you only supported them 'cause they won last season! Most Tornado fans did!"

"No, I've supported them since I was five. Ask Draco. If there's anything we don't disagree on, it's the Tornadoes."

"Sure, sure. Liar."

"I'm not lying!"

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"NO, I AM NOT A SCHEMING, CONNIVING LIAR, RONALD WEASLEY! NOW SIT DOWN, PUT YOUR WAND AWAY AND ANSWER THIS QUESTION!"

As the entire room stared at them, Ron sat down with an angry expression on his face, admitting defeat. Aurora smirked, her signature Malfoy smirk fading as she read the next question on the parchment:

"What sort of person would you like to spend the rest of your life with?"

* * *

><p>Hermione sat idly in front of Draco, eyeing her parchment. Their task started five minutes ago, and instead of doing it, like she usually would, she was simply looking around at the other couples on her street on what they were doing: Ginny and Blaise were grunting results at each other, Luna and Harry were sharing an animated conversation, while Ron and Aurora were - yep, you guessed it - arguing about yet another pointless subject.<p>

"No, I've supported them since I was five. Ask Draco. If there's anything we don't disagree on, it's the Tornadoes."

"Sure, sure. Liar."

"I'm not lying!"

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

Hermione sighed, staring at Draco. He then wrote some things down on his parchment, and Hermione simply wrote her name over and over again. _Hermione. Hermione. Hermio -_

"NO, I AM NOT A SCHEMING, CONNIVING LIAR, RONALD WEASLEY! NOW SIT DOWN, PUT YOUR WAND AWAY AND ANSWER THIS QUESTION!"

Aurora had just let out a bloodcurdling, spine-tingling yell at Ron, whose face was scrunched up in defeat.

"Poor Sister," Draco mumbled from the other side of the table. Hermione chuckled.

"What is the matter, Granger?"

"N-nothing."

Draco raised his eyebrow. "I know when I'm being lied to, Granger."

"Well, your senses must have one mad because you're not being lied to, Malfoy."

"Sure I'm not. Well... my birthday's on the fifth of June, though you probably know that."

"I do. Mine's the 19th of September."'

"I support the Tornadoes."

"I don't like any of the Quidditch teams."

"I expected that. What sort of person would you like to spend the rest of your life with?"

"I prefer a person that - "

"Challenges me, is not submissive, and is able to stand up for what they believe in."

"Me too."

Hermione and Draco looked shared eye contact with each other before Hermione wrote his answer on her parchment and vice versa. She then asked him another question.

"Is lilac your favourite colour?"

Draco nodded. They then noted that down on the parchment.

"Guess we have something in common after all."

* * *

><p>Aurora stared at her parchment as she walked up to the desk to hand it to the teacher. All ten questions have been answered. She then read it through again, making sure she didn't miss anything:<p>

_Name: Ronald Bilius Weasley _  
><em>Birthday: March 1st 1980 <em>  
><em>House &amp; Year: Seventh Year Gryffindor <em>  
><em>Personality (one positive, negative and neutral): Good Quidditch player, lazy and realistic <em>  
><em>Favourite Colour: Grey - so dismal <em>  
><em>Favourite Spell: Wingardium Leviosa - he sooo failed doing that spell in First Year<em>  
><em>Quidditch Team: Cannons. Eurgh<em>  
><em>Favourite Book: Quidditch Through the Ages <em>  
><em>Favourite Class: Care of Magical Creatures <em>  
><em>What sort of person do they want to spend the rest of their life with? Someone who is honest, forward and is not afraid of the dark. (Wow.)<em>

After Aurora left her parchment to Professor Abercrombie's desk, Ron stared at his parchment on the way there. He nibbled on the end of his Sugar Quill, checking his results carefully:

_Name: Aurora Beatrice Malfoy _  
><em>Birthday: June 5th 1980 <em>  
><em>House: Seventh Year Gryffindor <em>  
><em>Personality (one positive, negative and neutral): Clever, pessimistic and interesting <em>  
><em>Favourite Colour: Blue Favourite Spell: She looves Avis Oppugno. End of story.<em>  
><em>Quidditch Team: Tornadoes. Yeah right.<em>  
><em>Favourite Book: <em>Wuthering Heights_ by some Muggle called Emily Bronte _  
><em>Favourite Class: Charms.<em>  
><em>What sort of person do they want to spend the rest of their life with? Someone clever, kind and willing to make a change in the world. (And do I fit any of these? No.)<em>

Ron then smiled and put the piece of parchment, satisfied, on the Professor's desk (barely noticing the glares of death Aurora had been giving him right behind him) just as Hermione came in, writing little comments on the edge of her parchment. He then snuck a couple of peeks at her parchment before she swiped it away from his prying eyes:

_Name: Draco Lucius Malfoy _  
><em>Birthday: June 5th 1980 <em>  
><em>House: Seventh Year Slytherin <em>  
><em>Personality (one positive, negative and neutral): Clever, much, much too sarcastic and independent<em>  
><em>Favourite Colour: Lilac <em>  
><em>Favourite Spell: He likes saying Serpensortia. <em>  
><em>Quidditch Team: Tornadoes - Merlin's beard. <em>  
><em>Favourite Book: Shakespeare... oddly enough, me too. <em>  
><em>Favourite Class: Potions <em>  
><em>What sort of person do they want to spend the rest of their life with? Someone that challenges the two of us, is not submissive to our command, and is able to stand up for whatever it is they believe in.<em>

Hermione, putting her parchment on the desk, almost crashed into Draco Malfoy, a wide smirk on his face. Why on earth would he be so... him? He then showed her his parchment, his smirk widening:

_Name: Hermione Jean Granger - wait. Her middle name is Jean? _  
><em>Birthday: September 19th 1979 <em>  
><em>House: Seventh Year Gryffindor <em>  
><em>Personality (one positive, negative and neutral): Extremely clever. Full stop. <em>  
><em>Favourite Colour: Lilac <em>  
><em>Favourite Spell: Avis (Isn't it odd she and Aurora like similar spells?<em>  
><em>Quidditch Team: She doesn't really care <em>  
><em>Favourite Book: Shakespeare, looks like she has taste. Other than that, <em>Hogwarts: A History  
><em>Favourite Class: Arithmancy <em>  
><em>What sort of person do they want to spend the rest of their life with? Someone that challenges us, is not submissive, and is able to stand up for what they believe in<em>

"Ha ha _ha_ Malfoy," Hermione retorted.

Draco only laughed bitterly as Hermione rolled her eyes and got to her seat, looking at Ginny who was standing up and looking at her parchment on the way to the Professor's desk, bumping into everyone (and every_thing_) on the way.

_Name: Blaise Francesco Zabini (what's up with that?)_  
><em>Birthday: May 4th 1980 <em>  
><em>House: Seventh Year Slytherin <em>  
><em>Personality (one positive, negative and neutral): Smart, sarcastic and quiet. (This is sooo accurate I am not even joking.)<em>  
><em>Favourite Colour: Silver (no surprise)<em>  
><em>Favourite Spell: Tarantallegra (I had trouble spelling this)<em>  
><em>Quidditch Team: Harpies - like me!<em>  
><em>Favourite Book: 101 Ways to Knock Your Opponent Off The Broom Without Being Caught In A Foul by Katrina Kimirzky (what a freakishly looong title)<em>  
><em>Favourite Class: Potions <em>  
><em>What sort of person do they want to spend the rest of their life with? Someone who is understanding, hardworking and easy to talk to<em>

Blaise was walking rapidly behind Ginny as he glanced over at her parchment while she stole a look at his:

_Name: Ginevra Molly Weasley (Molly? _Molly?_ Ha!) _  
><em>Birthday: August 11th 1981<em>  
><em>House: Sixth Year Gryffindor<em>  
><em>Personality (one positive, negative and neutral): Friendly, fiery-tempered - this is accurate - and determined<em>  
><em>Favourite Colour: Gold... why<em>  
><em>Favourite Spell: Bat Bogey Hex. (Verspetilio)<em>  
><em>Quidditch Team: Harpies - looks like Weaselette isn't too bad after all<em>  
><em>Favourite Book: I don't know, and she doesn't have one. She doesn't seem like the reading type. <em>  
><em>Favourite Class: Charms What sort of person do they want to spend the rest of their life with? Somebody who shares the same passions, goals and personality as her.<em>

They smirked at each other, probably holding back their laughter on what they saw on each other's parchments, and walked away.

Harry and Luna, meanwhile, were correcting things on their parchments. Luna - and her purple feather quill - were explaining to Harry why she liked the Patronus Charm, while Harry simply nodded, taking in every word.

_Name: Harry James Potter _  
><em>Birthday: July 31st 1980 <em>  
><em>House: Seventh Year Gryffindor <em>  
><em>Personality (one positive, negative and neutral): Brave, stubborn and strong-willed <em>  
><em>Favourite Colour: Red <em>  
><em>Favourite Spell: Expelliarmus <em>  
><em>Quidditch Team: He has no real preference <em>  
><em>Favourite Book: Sherlock Holmes novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle <em>  
><em>Favourite Class: Care of Magical Creatures <em>  
><em>What sort of person do they want to spend the rest of their life with? Someone kind, clever and someone who can listen to my problems and not be judgemental.<em>

_Name:_ _Luna Lovegood_  
><em>Birthday: 25th December 1980 <em>  
><em>House: Sixth Year Ravenclaw <em>  
><em>Personality (one positive, negative and neutral): Clever, a bit clueless and knowledgable <em>  
><em>Favourite Colour: Sky blue <em>  
><em>Favourite Spell: Expecto Patronum (The Patronus Charm) <em>  
><em>Quidditch Team: No preference. <em>  
><em>Favourite Book: The Quibbler <em>  
><em>Favourite Class: Transfiguration <em>  
><em>What sort of person do they want to spend the rest of their life with? Someone who doesn't tease me, make me feel warm in the inside and believes in Thestrals<em>

"Well done, class!" Professor Abercrombie said in an overly enthusiastic voice, which nobody appreciated. She clapped her hands and the room turned into the round tables again. "Now, organize your wedding dates with the people of your street. No double weddings, and the weddings must be at least a month apart. The first wedding must be in December this year."

Suddenly, a big planner appeared on the table, and it flicked to December 1997. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were gazing at it as if they had never seen such a thing (which they didn't), while Luna, Aurora, Draco and Blaise were arguing amongst each other on who should get married first since they, unlike the others, had seen this sort of planner before.

"Luna, I think you should go first."

"No. Blaise why don't you - "

"No fucking _way!_ Draco, you and Granger seem very, _very_ matey lately. Why don't you go down the aisle - "

"No. No _no_ **_no_**. Sister, why don't you and Weasel - "

"We argue too much. And as Mum says, you can't argue on your wedding day. Luna, I officially offer to you - "

"I told you, Aurora. I don't want to!"

"Why don't you want to get married first, Loony Lovegood?"

"Yeah, you and Potter seem so lovely together."

"Fine. Fine. You guys seem so desperate, so I'll go first."

"Yay!"

Harry raised his eyebrow at his fiancee as Blaise, Draco and Aurora as they high fived each other. Luna didn't seem too upset; in fact, she seems quite happy.

"W-What is this?" Hermione asked timidly. "And why on _earth_ w-were you arguing?"

"It's a magic wedding planner," Aurora explained nonchalantly. "And we were all arguing about who got married first - "

" - and I lost. But I'm fine with it." - she turned towards Harry - "Harry, don't you think it would be wonderful to get married on New Year's Eve?" Luna asked hopefully, staring at Harry with pleading eyes.

"Yeah..." Harry replied doubtfully. Luna's face became firm and commanding.

"Do you mind, Harry?" she asked firmly.

"No," Harry replied, this time firmly and strongly. Luna winced a little bit so that no one but her and Harry can notice. "I just... I can't wait."

"Then it's settled."

Then, on the date 31st December 1997, there appeared some words in elegant handwriting:

_THE POTTER WEDDING._

Luna simply smiled, and so did Harry.

Draco, Blaise and Ron were now arguing about who were getting married last.

"I am, for heaven's sake! Weaslette and I don't get a - "

"You two do get along! Granger and I, on the other hand - "

" - seem to be getting along just fine! Aurora and I were sworn enemies ever since - "

"Shut up, Weasel! I want to get married on my birthday!"

"And when is that?"

"June 5th! My sister and I share the same birthday, or were you too thick to pick that up?"

Ron thought of a line, before mentally smirking and said to Aurora schemingly:

"Would you like to get married on your birthday?"

Aurora raised her eyebrow at Ron, before replying with, "Of course I would, you dolt! Who wouldn't?"

"Come on, Malfoy!" Ron said pleadingly. "Don't you want to not piss your sister off?"

"Ronald, what's going on?" Aurora asked abruptly. "I want to know - "

"Be quiet! So please, Malfoy, can Aurora get married on your birthday?"

Draco thought about it carefully, then nodded grimly. Ron the whispered to Aurora on the date of their wedding and she squealed with excitement.

"Oh, Ronald! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she screamed in utter delight. The wedding planner then flipped all the way forward to June 1998, where the 5th had now the same elegant handwriting which said:

_THE WEASLEY WEDDING._

Aurora then looked back and forth between Draco and Hermione, and Ginny and Blaise. She knew she had to sort them out somehow. She always gets her way, but not without at least some benefits for the other person she argued with.

"Draco and Hermione," she thoughtfully mumbled. "I think you should get married in... February? No; too early. Umm... March? Pretty cold for a wedding... oh... April. Yes! Perfect! How about Blaise and Ginny? Umm... not April, March or May... that leaves February, doesn't it? But why on earth... yes..."

The people who didn't have wedding dates stared at her, confused. She then smirked after five minutes of mumbling and thinking, looking up at the couples.

"Blaise and Ginny," Aurora smiled. "You two will get married in February because it gives you two a bit more time to learn more about each other. And I will make you two will get along" - Aurora sent death glares to Blaise that could kill a Tyrannosaurus Rex - "perfectly. Draco and Hermione - you two can get married in April. It's Easter, and the weather is beautiful in that month. Do you all agree?"

The four people nodded. Aurora smirked perfectly as February 24th was marked _'THE ZABINI WEDDING'_ on the planner as the pages flipped by, and a few seconds later, so was April 18th.

_Perfect._


	9. Arguments and Apologies

**A/N: Thank you for the ten reviews, you guys! I never thought I would get them this quickly! Just... thank you thank you_ thank you!_ :D**

**This chapter has an argument and an apology which _finally_ improves Ron and Aurora's relationship, hence the title. There is also a bit of Dramione yet again in this chapter, but very, very, _very_ subtle.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not swimming in a pool of Galleons, so therefore, I'm not J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

><p>"Law Class was fun, wasn't it Aurora?" Ron asked joyfully. They were just walking past Cistem Circle on the way back home from Hogwarts. It had taken them fifteen minutes to get from the Entrance Hall in Hogwarts to get to where they are now.<p>

The weather around them was cold, windy - something to expect from the cold month of September. Even the brightly-coloured mansions that passed by didn't seem to improve the bad mood that surrounded them.

"No, it wasn't," she replied hotly, staring at the cold, grey road ahead of her. Anyone there could see there was nothing there really; she needed a distraction so she doesn't have to look into his eyes. "Now shut up. I want to enjoy the beautiful scenery in peace."

Ron sank into his bag as Aurora fully observed the outside of their mansion. In front of the grand gates hung a seemingly old wooden sign that was carved in it, 'The Weasleys'. _More like the Ridiculous Weasley and The Intelligent Malfoy_, she thought. The gate itself was made of iron bars coated in gold, and where there was supposed to be a lock, there was a giant circle in it with the letter 'W' that was bigger than Aurora's books. The lady unlocked the mansion with her key - which she kept in her pocket - and she and Ron both stared in awe as the gates closed slowly behind them.

The mansion behind it, however, was white, enormous and it seemed to be made of marble that never seemed to fade. The pillars that held up the large, luxurious second floor balcony (though in my opinion, it looked more like a patio, but since when did my opinion matter?) were embroidered so intricately it must have been made by the best craftsman the Wizarding World has ever seen. The pillars had little pictures of little Cupids flying all around it... and they were moving. (Though what else can you expect, really? This is Hogwarts, after all.)

The double doors of the elegant house was made of glass and stood about ten feet away from where a couple of marble steps ended. On both sides of the space between the steps and the doors there were wooden benches painted white hanging down from iron chains that were on the ceiling. And on the sides of the benches were some potted plants next to them in elegant white porcelain pots.

"Why didn't we notice this before?" Ron muttered.

"You don't really notice anything around you when you're rushing, don't you?" Aurora sighed, walking towards the back of the yard. Ron rolled his eyes, shaking his head and walked to the other side of the yard. There was a playground there, swings, slides and roundabouts that swayed softly in the gentle breeze that surrounded him. He could hear the soft creaks they gave out, and the smell of fresh grass swirled around him. They were extremely colourful from red to blue to bright green, a change for the elegant white he had seen for the past couple of minutes.

He was walking slowly to the swings, each step taking an eternity. The silence was only interrupted by the crinkling grass he stepped on. Suddenly -

_"AAAAAAAAARGH!"_

"Aurora?" he yelled frantically, pulling out his wand. He pointed it all around him like a gun as he made his way into the back of the yard. "Aurora Beatrice Weas-Malfoy? What the hell happened?"

No answer.

"Aurora? _Aurora?"_

Turning his head around the corner, he saw Aurora jumping up and down screaming herself hoarse next to a large swimming pool as he walked down the yard feeling a bit awkward with his wand pointed at her.

"For heaven's sake, Ron!" she yelled happily. "What on earth do you have that wand pointed at me for? Put it down right now before I shoot you!"

"And why should I do that?" Ron asked angrily. You're the one being unreasonable, after all.

"You should be celebrating, Ronald! We have a bloody swimming pool!" she beamed. So this is what all the fuss was all about? Ron thought.

"So," Ron yelled. "You... were... yelling... yourself... hoarse... because... of... a..._ SWIMMING POOL?"_

"Yes!" she pouted, her tone rising dramatically from joy to rage. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"What do you think, Weas-Malfoy?"

"You do have a problem, Freckleface!"

"Snob!"

"Redhead!"

"Poor little rich girl!"

"Dumbarse!"

"Show off!"

"Annoying little brat!"

"Slag!"

Aurora let out a small gasp before covering her mouth in shock. That was probably the rudest thing anyone could call her. Or any other girl, for that matter.

"H-How dare you, you stupid prat!" she yelled.

Instead of hexing Ron and throwing spells at him, like she usually did, she punched him severely in the face.

As soon as she removed her hand, his right nostril let out long rivers of blood, and part of his nose was hanging down his face. Apparently, she had punched him hard enough to detach a large part of his nose. Trying to make sure the remaining skin doesn't tear, he held it close to his head while she stared at her hand, which had his blood all over it.

"Whad de 'ell did you do dat for?" he yelled frantically.

"Well," she smirked, staring at his broken face, "you see, instead of hexing you with a million charms, jinxes and hexes, as I usually would, I decided to punch you in the face, like an angry, deranged Muggle would do in such a situation. It is so much more appropriate, seeing as we're in school and Professor McGonagall would kill me if I cursed my future husband. Oh - and unless you want to bleed to death - which I'm quite sure you don't - you'd better go see Madam Pomfrey. I'm sure she can do something about it."

* * *

><p>"Ron! Ron! Ronald! Are you alright?"<p>

Harry, Draco, Hermione and Ginny were visiting Ron in the Hospital Wing that evening. A few hours before, Ron had gone to Madam Pomfrey frantically holding his nose, and he has to stay the night in the castle. Harry and Ginny had just finished Quidditch practice (though it was hard to practice without a Keeper) amongst the older Gryffindor players while Draco and Hermione had joined Harry and Ginny from the library, where they had been keeping tabs on their homework.

"I-I'm fine Hermione," Ron replied wearily. He then stared at his nose, which was now attached firmly onto his head. He mentally smiled. Looks like Madam Pomfrey did her job. "W-where's Aurora?"

"She went home after Quidditch practice," Harry explained. "Sobbing her eyes out. Well, not really, but she was upset. Something to do with you, I believe."

There was a bit of an awkward pause that circled the five friends. Ron simply looked out the window while the other four were staring at each other and occasionally, staring off into space.

"Look," Ginny whispered, breaking the silence. The other four snapped back into reality, staring at Ron intently (but Ron stared at Ginny instead). "We know what happened between you two. She told us. Don't lie to us about it."

Ron's face turned pale, and gulped loudly. "So?"

"You called her," Hermione said angrily, "_the_ worst Muggle name imaginable."

"And you seriously need to get a grip, Weaselbee. You need to stop calling my sister names or I will kill you."

Ron raised his eyebrow. "What are you doing here, Malfoy?"

"Aurora's my sister," said Draco. "So, it does make sense that I care about her. That, and I hate you."

"And so do we," Hermione sighed, pointing to herself, then Harry and Ginny. Ron then stared angrily at her. "And we don't hate you, don't we Malfoy?"

"I hate you, Weaselbee."

"Malfoy - "

"We all desperate care about my sister, which is why I came up with this proposition."

"You came up with it? It was my idea!"

"No, it was mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Malfoy, don't lie - it was my idea."

"But I thought of the proposition itself!"

"I thought up the hexing bit!"

"But I told you about the - "

"No I did!"

"Whatever. It's still my proposition though."

"B-but... but I - "

"Can we just get to the point?" Ron interrupted, causing Hermione and Draco to step away from each other. They had been at each other's throats, their wands pointed at each other.

"We," Hermione replied quickly, leaving Draco to give her some looks that could kill, "thought of a proposition - "

" - that could fulfill both Aurora's and your wishes," Draco interrupted, prompting Hermione to punch him in the arm, so he mouthed 'Ow' to her. She then sent him a glare and he added, "I think."

"The proposition that we suggest is - "

" - that if one of you hurts the other - "

" - the one that got hurt - "

" - has the utmost right to - "

" - hex the other one into oblivion."

Ron stared at both Hermione and Draco and after an awkward silence. Merlin's pants, they almost sound like a terrible, enemy-like version of Fred and George. He then yelled, "Are you two mad?"

The smile on the couple faded. Ron's tone then dramatically rose, scaring everyone, especially Hermione.

"Do you think I'd actually _agree_ to this sort of crap?" he yelled furiously. "What the hell have you been thinking, you two?"

"Ron, Malfoy and I don't mean any harm. We're just trying to get you and Aurora to actually - "

" - get along? Don't you know how six years of bloody hatred has contributed to our bloody relationship?"

"We _know_, Ron. Out of all people - "

"Then why aren't you bloody idiots doing anything about it?"

"We are doing something!" Ginny shrieked, making Harry, Hermione and Draco shut their ears. Not to mention shaking the whole of Hogwarts in the process. "But you, my stupid excuse of an older brother, refuse to listen to any of us! No, you always have to be right all the fucking time! So can you please just shut the fuck up for just one fucking minute so we can explain everything to you?"

Ron nodded, trying to look brave, but he was sinking back into his pillow. Ginny had never sworn so much in her life, and she had surprised herself (in a good way) by doing so.

"Good," Harry grinned. "Thanks, Ginny."

Ginny beamed at him.

"I know it's hard for you to do this," Harry said. "But there is really only one way you're getting out of this Law alive and not mentally, physically or spiritually scarred: you and Aurora will have to make a truce."

"What makes you think I will make a truce with her?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Either that, or she'll hex you at every given opportunity," Draco laughed, but Harry looked solemn.

"Ron," he replied, barely noticing Draco's laughter. "We all agree you were acting a tiny bit... harsh to her today."

"Harsh in an understatement!" Draco snorted, and Hermione had to punch him roughly in the arm. Again.

"Well, that is true!" Ginny argued. Draco smirked while Hermione started talking, shooting daggers at him.

"Actually," she agreed. "Harsh _is_ an understatement, Malfoy. You guys have been doing nothing but yelling at each other for the past two days!"

"She made me read a _book_!" Ron complained, and this made Hermione laugh. _How the heck can you complain about a book? _"On some bloody boy called Peter Pan, the Boy Who Never Grew Up! Oh - look at me! I'm Peter Pan! I'll be a stupid kid forever and I can fly into the sky..."

Ron started flapping his arms around, pretending to fly and this made everyone laugh, except for Hermione (who seemed very angry with him) continued.

"Peter Pan is a Muggle classic!" she yelled, causing everyone to jump and stop laughing. "Don't you dare, dare insult it Ronald! It is a great piece of literature written by one of Muggle Britain's most loved authors! Okay... what were we talking about again? Oh yes... can you please, please make an effort to get along with her? I mean - look at Blaise and Ginny! They hate each other, but do you see them throwing spells at each other, no! And he is at least trying, isn't he, Gin?"

"He can be so fussy sometimes on food and everything," Ginny sighed. "He barely talks to me but he at least tries to say, 'Good morning, Ginny' everytime he can, so I know he's trying his best to get along, and I am too."

"And look at me and Malfoy! We argue a lot on intellectual subjects - "

" - since when was food and how the world works intellectual, Granger?"

" - shut it, Malfoy. My point - Malfoy and I argue a lot, but do we throw jinxes at each other? No. And look at Harry and - "

"I get the point!" Ron shrieked, causing Hermione to squeal and hold on to Draco.

"What the hell are you doing, Granger?" Draco spat, pushing Hermione off him.

"In short," said Ginny, narrowing her eyes at Ron. "We want you and Aurora to have a truce to at least, have one civil conversation."

"We've already told Aurora about this," Harry said, "and she has already said that if you agree to this, she will give you her utmost co-operation."

Ron thought about it for a while, and simply nodded. "Fine, anything I can do to stay alive."

Harry smirked as Ginny, Draco and Hermione hi-fived each other, all laughing and smiling.

"Your first task," Harry laughed. "Is to apologize to Aurora."

* * *

><p>"For Merlin's sake, Madam Pomfrey! Can I please stay the night in the Hospital Wing?"<p>

"Miss Malfoy, or is it Mrs. Weasley now? Oh never mind... Mr. Weasley needs his rest."

"Well, I'm his fiancée!"

"And I'm a certified Healer, and I say he needs some rest!"

"But I will be his wife next June _through no fault of my own_ and I say he needs to at least get his homework in check and to at least get his books ready for tomorrow! And I'll make sure Daddy hears about this! Not to mention this permission slip Professor McGonagall gave me."

Madam Pomfrey took the small slip of parchment from Aurora. She read it thoroughly before shaking her head and sighed sadly. "Very well. You may sleep on the bed next to him."

Aurora nodded simply, beaming her perfect smile at the Healer, who rolled her eyes and walked away. She put Ron's brown satchel on the floor next to his bed and sat on the bench next to it.

"So," she muttered, looking at the floor.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Ron asked grimly, staring at her.

"Ummm..." she mumbled. "I'm here to help you with your homework and give you your books for tomorrow."

"What subjects do I have?" Ron asked.

"You have," Aurora replied, looking meticulously at Ron's timetable. "Defense Against the Dark Arts, Muggle Studies, free period, double Herbology and... dammit! Another Law Class. I have Defense Against the Dark Arts too, free period - thank _Merlin_ - then History of Magic, double Herbology with you and obviously, Law Class. I also have Astronomy, but that's at night, of course."

"Did you get started on your Potions homework yet?" Ron asked. Aurora simply laughed and took out a long piece of parchment with her elegant writing on it, scribbled in seemingly endless lines.

"Well, this should give you an answer," she replied. "Ummm... how's your nose?"

"Better than when you punched me."

Aurora smiply looked at the floor now, her cheeks turning a shade of red which could match Ron's flaming red hair. Ron himself read her Potions homework, muttering to himself things like, 'how am I going to make an O essay without Snape accusing me for copying off her?' When he had finished reading, he nudged her, causing her to look up at him.

"Yes?" she asked quietly.

"Uh... I'm s-sorry about what happened," Ron mumbled. Aurora, who was used to this, could figure out what he was saying in an instant.

"Well, I'm just sorry to punch you in the face," she laughed. "I meant to do it, but not as severely as I did!"

The two of them stifled some giggles, before Aurora looked down at the floor again.

"What is it this time?" Ron asked.

"W-well," she stammered shyly. "Umm... I w-want t-to cr-create a tr-truce."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Iwanttocreateatrucewithyou."

"Pardon?"

Aurora sighed, "Let's make a truce. We try as hard as we can to be civil to each other for as long as we can, okay? I mean, we can't keep arguing forever. Mummy says that you can't keep a house afloat when you keep arguing all the time - "

"Okay, okay, I get it." Ron agreed quickly, and they shook hands for a moment before looking at their hands.

Their fingers, as both of them had noticed, fit perfectly around each other. Ron was shocked about that, and his grip grew tighter on her. Aurora already knew about this, so she shook his hand as normal.

She looked deep into his soft blue eyes, and sensed something in them she had never seen in them before; a sparkle, maybe. At the same time, he looked into her thoughtful grey eyes, which had some bouncing sparks in them. He bent over a little closer to her to see what the spark seemed to be, and she did the same. Well, what happened next what inevitable, unless one of them had pulled away.

Their lips crashed onto each other. For a moment, Aurora pondered on what she was doing (and why) while she was staring at Ron, while he was wondering to himself the exact same thing. It was only a couple of seconds later they both managed to close their eyes and let go. His fingers were in her hair, twirling strands of it around and around, while her hands were almost suffocating his neck. Neither one wanted to break it off as their tongues twirled around each other and as as their heads moved in sync. It seemed to go on forever, and the both of them were completely fine with that. At least, until -

"Oi! What on earth are you two doing?"

Madam Pomfrey stood angrily at the front of Ron's bed, causing the two of them to jump apart. Aurora blushed immensely, causing her cheeks to go into a beetroot shade for the first time in her life, while Ron's ears went more red than his hair.

"Miss Malfoy," Madam Pomfrey yelled, pointing at Aurora. "You are extremely lucky that permission slip makes sure you stay here tonight! Any other time, I would have kicked you out of the Hospital Wing immediately! Next time, do that somewhere else! Such behavior will not be tolerated!"

"I-I'm sorry, Madam Pomfrey," Aurora whispered, still in shock, "I-I will n-never do it again."

"Too right you won't!" Madam Pomfrey shrieked, storming out of the room to care for a First Year somewhere else. Ron and Aurora then sighed in relief.

"That was awkward," he whispered, shaking in fear.

"Too right it was," Aurora smirked. "Now, I can help you with your Potions homework."


	10. Waltzing and Walruses

**A/N: Hello there, and another chapter gone! This chapter is very fluffy, in contrast to all the drama the other chapters had.**

**Disclaimer: I shall never own Harry Potter, nor Howie Day's _Collide_.**

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><p>"I am the Walrus!" Ron sang merrily. He was still in the Hospital Wing, waiting for breakfast to come.<p>

He and Aurora had breakfast were going to have breakfast served to them in the Hospital Wing since Ron couldn't go home, nor could they enter the Great Hall. They had finished Ron's Potions homework in one hour that night, so they had introduced to each other things they had never heard of before, Ron introduced her to some of Fred and George's prototypes and Aurora had told him about some of the Muggle Music she knew to help Ron just in case Professor Burbage asked for it. She had played him a few songs from the Beatles as well.

"Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come. Corporation tee-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday!" Ron sang, while Aurora shut her ears, wincing away from him. (In pain or in amusement, I have no idea, really.)

"For Merlin's sake, Ronald! That's enough 'I Am The Bloody Walrus'!" she bellowed, but Ron had kept on singing, ignoring her. Hey, she thought. _Today is a stupid bloody Tuesday._

"Man, you been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long!"

"Err... Ron? Are you quite alright? Are you listening to me? And do you know you can't grow your face any longer than it already is - "

"I am the eggman! They are the eggmen!"

"You can't be an egg and a man, Ronald - "

"I am the Walrus, goo goo g'joob!"

Ron had finally finished his rendition of '_I Am The Walrus_'. Aurora sighed in relief as Madam Pomfrey gave the two of them some bacon and eggs, some muffins and a cum of hot, foaming hot chocolate for the two of them on some silver tin trays.

"Thank you Madam Pomfrey," they chorused dully, and Madam Pomfrey left the two of them alone, huffing and puffing to herself on 'how ungrateful youngsters today are'.

For once, Ron and Aurora both ate slowly and they preferred different things, so there were (thankfully) no arguments on that: Ron had the bacon and eggs all to himself and Aurora didn't mind eating some chocolate muffins for breakfast. They both ate in silence, except for when they got their hot chocolate mixed up. (The cups were both silver, so it was easy to mix them up.)

"We have Defense Against the Dark Arts first," Ron smiled, looking at his timetable. "I wonder if Lupin's going to teach us some more cool things this year."

"You know he is," Aurora nodded. "And I bet you five Galleons Harry's going to grasp most of... well, whatever we're doing in about five minutes. You know how he's like. He always get the incantation before anyone else does."

"Deal," Ron agreed. He then looked thoughtful for a while before saying, "I don't have five Galleons."

"You do now," Aurora smirked, passing him five golden coins.

"Aurora, you don't have to - "

" - save it. Besides, if Harry struggles with this subject this year - which I doubt he will - you'll have five more Galleons to spend on Chocolate Frog Cards."

Ron nodded, "Thanks."

She only gave him a curt nod in return.

"How long do you think it'll take to get to the DADA classroom from here?" Ron asked, sitting up from the bed.

Aurora glanced carefully at her watch, before looking up and saying, "Ten minutes."

Ron nodded, "How long have we got until we have to run for our lives?"

"Five minutes."

There was an awkward pause, until Ron said:

"I want to be early to class. Do you?"

"Of course! You know how much I adore Professor Lupin's lectures."

The two of them got their old, brown leather satchels (Ron's was next to him on the bed while Aurora's was on the bedside table) and walked quickly out of the room together, completely unaware that they were holding hands.

* * *

><p>"Hello, you guys!" Aurora smiled, sitting down on a chair in front of Draco and Hermione. Ron was sitting next to her on the right, and they had put their satchels down and leaned back on the chairs and turned around to talk to their friends at the exact same time. The two were exhausted but glad to at least have good seats and be early to DADA. "How are you both doing?"<p>

"We're jolly good," Hermione smirked lovingly at Draco, who was smirking right back at her. They were both aware that Aurora and Ron had come into class holding hands, so they knew something had happened last night after they left the Hospital Wing.

"What happened?" Aurora asked suspiciously, and Hermione and Draco snapped apart. "Are you two alright?"

"Inside joke," Draco smirked, and Hermione nodded with him.

"_Sure_," Aurora sighed, rolling her eyes.

"The real question is: what happened with you and Ron last night?" Hermione smiled, while Aurora and Ron both turned bright red in their own ways.

"Ummm... nothing!" Aurora smiled, though her face was still as red as a beetroot. Ron defended her, yelling at the same time, "No! Nothing at all! No_ thing!_ Why?"

"No reason," Draco chuckled schemingly along with Hermione, while Aurora and Ron turned to each other and shrugged their shoulders together. This only made the other couple laugh even louder.

"Why are you two being so annoying?" Ron whispered furiously, causing Draco and Hermione's laughter to echo throughout the classroom. Aurora nodded, signalling that she agreed with Ron.

"Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy," Professor Lupin's voice boomed, causing Draco and Hermione to wince and cower in fear. Aurora and Ron, on the other hand, were smirking (or in Ron's case smiling) at each other. "Do you mind telling us what is so interesting, hmm?"

"Nothing at all, Professor Lupin," Draco replied hastily, and Professor Lupin started the day's lesson.

"Good morning," he started. "And welcome back to Hogwarts, students. Now, as you all know, this will be your final year in Hogwarts, and you will all have to take your NEWTs. this year, and I expect all of you to do well. Yes, all of you. You too, Mr. Crabbe. Today, we will start to attempt something that usually comes up at N.E.W.T level: non-verbal magic. This is a good skill to have because then you can cast spells at your enemies without them knowing exactly what spell you're using at them during a duel. Now, partner up and start practicing."

Aurora and Ron stood up, finding an empty space in the corner. She snuck a look at Harry, who was already disarming Hermione non-verbally. When Ron saw the scene, he winced slightly, so Aurora sunck five more Galleons in his pocket.

"You deserve them," she whispered, smiling. What he didn't was that she had her hand in her pocket, clutching her wand.

When Ron was putting his Galleons into his pocket, he forgot to pocket his wand as well. It was no surprise she had disarmed him non-verbally in a couple of seconds, causing him to look up at her in shock. (Or more accurately, anger.)

* * *

><p>Once double Herbology was over, the eight (Luna had joined them from the gardens and Ginny had joined them from Care of Magical Creatures) Albus Avenue residents were (walking and talking) as slowly as they could to the third floor corridor near the Charms corridor. They were now on the second floor, trying to find the right staircase to climb. It was yet another Law Class, which they were not looking forward to for obvious reasons. Luckily, they were not the only ones halting their entrance to class, everyone else was too. On their way, they saw Pansy Parkinson and Michael Corner loitering innocently near the Entrance Hall, Ernie Macmillan and Daphne Greengrass trying to find a place to hide (though they weren't very successful), and Colin Creevey and Susan Bones were huddling together, whispering bits of gossip (or dried-up rumours, no one was sure which) to each other.<p>

Aurora found a staircase that didn't seem to want to move that led to the Third Floor, so she and the other seven quickly ran up along it because even though they wanted to be late to class, they didn't want to be lost. As they landed on the Third Floor, they realized that they were right in front of the Law Classroom, which was, yet again, decorated with Cupids and roses.

"_Shit_," Aurora, Blaise, Draco, Hermione, Ginny, Harry and Ron chorused. Luna, who almost never swore, simply scrunched up her face in disappointment as Professor Abercrombie came towards them, a huge smile on her wrinkly little face.

"Hello there!" she smiled, sounding relieved. "You guys are the first ones here! What a relief! I've been trying to find students for ten minutes. Do you know what happened to everyone else?"

"No idea," Ginny replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Right behind them, Lavender and Seamus, Parvati and Theo, Padma and Justin, and Hannah and Neville were right behind them, all in a huddle.

"Thank goodness you're here too!" the Professor shrieked, causing the conversation with the future Finnigans, Notts, Finch-Flectchleys and Longbottoms to stop. "Now, can you all enter the room please? Just stand up in a circle around the room, will you?"

The sixteen teenagers had a bit of small talk with each other before spreading themselves out in a circle. They saw that the tables were pushed to the edge of the room and there was a large circle made out of candles. For the next ten minutes, more and more couples came in until they were all here, looking either grumpy or exhausted, causing Professor Abercrombie to shut the door behind them.

"Welcome to today's lesson, dearies! What a pleasant afternoon!" Professor Abercrombie grinned. The students sighed, saying a dreary 'Yes, Professor Abercrombie'. Unaware of their dread, the ignorant Professor continued on, "Today, we're going to start learning how to dance the waltz."

The students simply argued and whispered amongst themselves.

"Waltzing? What is she on about?"

"Thank Merlin I took dance lessons as a little kid."

"I think I'm going to fail this subject!"

"I know this will be hard for some of you," Professor Abercrombie announced, trying to reassure the students. Too right, they thought. "But this is an essential wedding tradition, and it is very difficult to master, so I suggest we get started on this as soon as possible. So for this lesson, let's see what you can do before we start any lessons. I am going to call four couples at a time to dance in the circle."

"First four couples, please come into the circle: Harry and Luna Potter, Draco and Hermione Malfoy, Blaise and Ginevra Zabini, and Ronald and Aurora Weasley."

Aurora sighed as she stared at Parvati and Lavender, who were mouthing 'Good luck' towards her. She walked slowly, holding onto Ron's hand, mouthing 'Thanks' right back at them. They stood in a space where they knew they couldn't bump into anyone. She put her right hand slowly onto his shoulder and her left hand on his waist, and he did the same. The warmth she had felt almost a day and a half ago had come back to her, an electric shock running through her veins. Professor Abercrombie nodded approvingly before she enchanted the music to start on the stereo.

_The dawn is breaking_

Aurora and Ron started their dance, slowly taking their first couple of steps together. They took three steps at a time, slowly walking around the circle in circles. Unknowingly, they were being watched by most of the class, since the other three couples could barely dance.

_A light shining through_

They didn't notice the fact that the surrounding scene around them had started to change. They were now in a garden full of flowers, full of the warmth of the twilight sky. A slight breeze made the temperature not too hot and not too cold for them. Aurora was now wearing a strapless black dress, and Ron was wearing a black tuxedo.

_You're barely waking_

They got ready for Aurora's first twirl, stretching their left arms as far as they could. She twirled gracefully around his arm, and soon, she was wrapped in his arms, dancing fearfully close to him. They then went back to their original position, unbelievably enough, in time to the music.

_And I'm tangled up in you, yeah_

"You can dance, Ronald?"

_But I'm open, you're closed_

"Yeah. I could since I was three. I kept watching old tapes of people dancing on Dad's pellyvision and I kind of... imitated it. I think I've managed to keep some of my old skills from back then. How can you dance?"

"You know. Malfoy family tradition."

_Where I follow, you'll go_

"I see."

Ron bent down, causing Aurora to drop, head held back. He abruptly pushed her up and they danced as slowly as they did before.

_I worry I won't see your face_

Feeling the music around them, the two of them looked into each other's eyes. Her deep grey eyes looked into his sky blue ones. The colour contrast between them gave each other's eyes these little invisible sparks which shocked both their brains.

_Light up again_

"I never knew how geaceful you could be for a Weasley."

"Is that a compliment?"

"What do you think?"

_Even the best fall down sometimes_

"Sounded like an insult to me."

_Even the wrong words seem to rhyme_

"No, it isn't."

_Out of the doubt that fills my mind_

"Can I put my head on your shoulder? I'm feeling a tad bit tired."

"Go ahead."

"Thanks."

_I somehow find you and I collide_

Aurora put her head on Ron's shoulder, the most comfortable pillow in her life. Her arms were tightly wrapped around him, and his arms were wrapped around hers. It felt like home, really. She stared longingly at the fairy lights around her. After a while, they moved around in different colours. She stared at them in amazement, trying to return to the original position.

"Ron," she breathed, gazing at the fairy lights around her. "Look."

Ron followed her gaze, and when he found them, he too was shocked.

_I'm quiet you know_

They both continued dancing, a little quicker than they had a couple of minutes ago. The fairy lights gathered all around them, all flashing different colours. The two of them had smiles on their faces a mile wide as they twirled and spun all around the garden, the flashing fairy lights following their every move. With the flowers of all sorts surrounding the fairy lights, the garden seemed like a floral version of heaven.

_You make a first impression_

"This is amazing."

_I've found I'm scared to know_

"Nothing short of it."

_I'm always on your mind_

For some reason, Ron had decided to lift Aurora up in the air, but she looked like she was prepared for it. She let her right arm out as one of the fairy lights leaped into the sky and transformed itself into a star, shooting across the night sky. Aurora caught it easily, and she landed on the floor gracefully as Ron slowly let her waist go.

_Even the best fall down sometimes_

"You have good aim."

"Thanks."

_Even the stars refuse to shine_

Suddenly, as Aurora was gazing at her newly found star, she saw it had lost its shine. Ron was looking curiously at it before he threw it out of her hand so he could get her concentration on the dance once more.

_Out of the back you fall in time_

As odd, sudden and shocking as it seems, Ron recognized the song from the very beginning. His father had played it on the old Muggle record players he had, and when no one was listening, Ron himself would play it on the record player too. He knew the rythym, the lyrics... everything. He knew where to let Aurora drop slowly, where to slow down, and where to quicken the pace just a little bit.

_I somehow find you and I collide_

"A little faster. Twirl, then spin twice," he thought, letting his body do just that.

_Don't stop here_

Aurora gazed at the grass as Ron dropped her as slowly as he could. She realized that Ron was taking the shots now. She didn't mind. It seemed to make their waltz better. Another thing she realized was that she was barefoot and her feet were dirty. Damn.

_I lost my place_

This time, Ron controlled his bend better than before. Aurora was no longer staring into the grass now, only at Ron's polished leather shoes. Her lips curled only slightly as he pulled her up to spin around again.

_I'm close behind_

"You never told me you had a brand-new tuxedo."

"I don't. And do you have a beautiful black dress, anywhere?"

"No, I don't think so."

_Even the best fall down sometimes_

"I wonder if this is real."

"I doubt it. But if it is, I wish we lived here."

"Yeah."

_Even the wrong words seem to rhyme_

As soon as that last line was uttered, the scenery had started to change, but so subtly none of them had noticed.

_Out of the doubt that fills your mind_

First, the long, green grass was gone.

_You finally find you and I collide_

Then, the colourful fairy lights were gone.

_You finally find you and I collide_

Finally, the enchanting scenery was gone.

_You finally find you and I collide_

When the music had finally stopped, Aurora and Ron panted heavily and looked up. Only now did they notice they were back in the classroom. They looked at each other and at themselves, and they were in their dress robes again. They saw the class clapping enthusiastically, particularly at them.

"Bravissimo!" Professor Abercrombie smiled, clapping as loudly as she could. "Okay, the next part is to vote for the best dancing couple.

"Who votes for Harry and Luna?"

A few hands shot up. The two people in question were sighing in relief and mouthing thanks towards each other.

"Who votes for Draco and Hermione?"

Slightly more hands showed up, but not by very much. Draco smirked at Hermione, who in return, punched him in the arm.

"Don't smirk at me!" she whispered angrily. "Especially not in a time like this."

"Does anyone vote for Blaise and Ginny?"

No hands showed up, but the future Zabinis seemed totally cool with it. They were talking animatedly, as if they didn't have a care in the world. Either that or they didn't seem (or want) to pay attention.

"And who thinks that Ronald and Aurora were the best waltzers out of the four?"

Everyone else who didn't vote raised their hands out shamelessly, causing Ron's jaw to drop in shock. There was a deafeningly loud applause which spread through the audience and shook the floor. There were even a few whistles. Aurora, instead of bragging and smirking as her brother did, simply comforted Ron, and she herself was nearly in tears.

"Mr. Weasley, Miss Malfoy, fifty points to Gryffindor!" Professor Abercrombie announced. "Each."

This simply made Ron faint, and Aurora simply started crying in utter joy, trying to wake Ron up. Professor Abercrombie beckoned the four couples to sit down as Aurora tried to drag Ron to the edge of the circle.

"Next four couples, please step into the circle for your waltz: Michael Corner and Evangeline Presley, Newt Scamander and Lola Macpherson, Archibald Grant and Axelle Lincoln, and Zacharias Smith and Fay Dunbar."

* * *

><p>"So," Professor Abercrombie smiled, staring at the girls. "When are you all getting married?"<p>

After the waltzing session, Professor Abercrombie had decided to consult the girls for their wedding dates tosee if any of the dates overlap, while she got her brother to do the same for the boys. Her brother was someone unexpected.

Her brother was none other than Professor Flitwick. The boys found it awkward, talking to their Charms teacher on wedding dates.

"Well, that explains everything," Ron whispered to Harry, pointing at both Professors. Harry simply stifled a giggle.

Back in the girls' circle, they were announcing their wedding dates.

"December 1st," Lavender squealed.

"May 6th," Pansy sighed, as if she wanted to thank Merlin or something.

"March 3rd," Hannah smiled.

"January 15th," Axelle mumbled.

"31st December," Luna airily replied. Everyone gasped, muttering things like, 'She's lucky!' and 'Isn't that her birthday, though?' before it was Ginny's turn.

"24th February," she muttered.

"April 18th," Hermione said, glancing towards the window.

"June 5th," Aurora smirked. That made all the other girls clap for her, all jealous of how lucky she is.

* * *

><p>"You overreact so much, Ronald Weasley!"<p>

"I never thought we could have been the best waltzers in Albus Avenue, not to mention out of all the couples! She gave us like what, seventy points each?"

"Who do you think should it have gone to, then?"

"Malfoy and Hermione."

"Why?"

"You know both Malfoy and Hermione are accomplished dancers!"

"In two different styles! Draco's a ballroom specialist - the Viennese Waltz to be exact - while Hermione is a contemporary dancer. A really bad one - according to her, and you know how she's so bloody modest - but excellent nonetheless.

"Aren't ballroom and contemporary ballet the same thing?"

"I've already told you: they're two different things!"

"What's the difference?"

"Ballroom is a dance you must do with a partner involving lifts and turns, while contemporary involves a lot more flexibilty. I think"

"You don't really know, do you?"

"No."

After yet another Law Class, Ron and Aurora were arguing again as they made their way to the villa, arm in arm. (And yet again, they weren't aware about it.) They were used to arguing already, but this time, they made sure Aurora didn't punch, nor hex, nor jinx Ron. And vice-versa.

At this point in time, there was an awkward pause between the two of them.

"I don't think the difference really matters, anyway," Ron said suddenly.

"I agree," Aurora agreed.

"Besides, we're still the best dancers ever, right?"

Aurora chuckled, "I don't think we're the best dancers ever, but I still think we're pretty good."

The two of them held hands. But this time, they were both fully aware of it.


	11. Kitchens and KaBoom!

**A/N: Hello! I hope you like this next chapter! In this chapter, there is an explosion, arguments and observations, to say the least. Enjoy!**

**- nietsmmar x**

* * *

><p><em>Six o'clock. The Weasley Villa, Albus Avenue, Hogwarts Estate, Scotland<em>

After two hours of going through non-verbal charms and essays, Ron and Aurora had enough studying and homework for the day and they were debating what to have for dinner. Well... if you can call it a debate. Aurora was cooking their meals, since Ron can't cook to save his life. (He can, it's just that he burns everything he makes. Even scrambled eggs... anyway, let's continue.)

"Spaghetti!"

"Leg of ham!"

"Spaghetti!"

"Leg of ham!"

"We don't have time to make a raw leg of ham into something edible!"

"Well, at least you don't have to - "

_BOOM._

The explosion shook the floors of the Weasley Villa. It was so shaky Aurora lost her balance and fell onto the floor, while Ron simply tried to find something to hold on to with one hand, trying to find Aurora with the other.

"What is happening, Aurora? Are we being attacked by a Muggle A-Bomb or something?"

"No, Muggles won't attack Hogwarts. They can't even see it, for heaven's sake!"

"Oh, right. You have a point there."

"Since when did I - "

_BOOM!_

"Uhhh... Ron, I think we're being ambushed," Aurora announced shakily, the floor shaking beneath her. The shaking was enough to push someone as big as Hagrid off the ground and fly all the way to America. Or at least Aurora thought it could.

_"AAAHHH!"_ she screamed, trying to find something to hold on to with both arms, failing miserably. _"RON! _RONALD!_ WHERE ARE YOU?"_

"I'm here!" he yelled, grasping Aurora's right wrist. He had been right behind her the whole time. _What the?_ she thought. _How did _he_ get there?_ "Hold on to me. Hold on and don't let go!"

"What makes you think I would let go, Ronald?" Aurora trilled, but her voice was wavering with nervousness as Ron grabbed the staircase railing.

"Hold on to the railings with your other hand!" he bellowed. Aurora did just that as she felt the house shake even more than it already did.

A few minutes later, the floor stopped shaking. Just in case there was an aftershock, Aurora and Ron didn't bother letting go of each other or the railing. They both looked around, seeing that their house had remained intact, the furniture and ornaments still in place. They both smiled. For a couple of minutes, nothing really happened. The two of them let the table go afterwards, swiping their foreheads and sighing in relief. Until an angry, booming voice yelled -

"MALFOY, YOU LITTLE SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?"

"OW!" Ron and Aurora yelled, covering up their ears. They were rubbing them furiously, trying to make sure they can still hear each other. The yell was so loud it shook the floor more than the earthquake/ambush/explosion.

"Can you hear me?" they asked each other at the exact same time. "Yes, I can."

"I wonder who yelled though," Ron wondered. "And what caused the explosion. Or ambush. Or earthquake. Whatever."

"Do you want to find out?" Aurora asked longingly.

"Sure," Ron agreed, and the two of them went outside, expecting to see the street in ruins.

* * *

><p>They may have expected to see their street in ruins, but it wasn't. What they really saw was something they didn't expect: their poor friend Hermione Granger, hair standing on its ends (that made her hair look less like hair and more like a lion's mane), yelling at poor Draco Malfoy, who was on the floor, cowering away from her. Both of their faces were covered in ash from the explosion. Even someone like Goyle could figure out that the blast started in the Malfoy Villa.<p>

_Boy, do they look messed up,_ Ron thought, staring at Aurora, who simply nodded.

"WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING, DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT?" she shrieked. Aurora then patted Hermione's right shoulder with her right hand, causing Hermione to jump and face her.

"Oh," Hermione blushed in embarassment. "I-I'm sorry. I d-didn't mean t-to yell at you."

"It's alright," Ron replied, rushing to Aurora's side. "The only harm you did was that you nearly deafened us. Do you know what could have caused an explosion in your villa?"

"Charred faces," Aurora noted, muttering to the point. "Hermione's ridiculously mad. Draco wincing in fear. Villa in ruins..."

"Can you just get to the point?" Ron yelled. Aurora punched Ron on the arm. Hard.

"Ow!" he yelled, and she smirked, satisfied.

_Cynical bitch,_ Ron thought.

"Did you try to cook again, Draco?" Aurora asked, turning her brother, who simply nodded in fear.

"I told you to let other people do the cooking!" she yelled furiously. "You _know_ what happened last time you tried to cook! Actually, it was more like boiling water but same thing!"

"And what happened?" Hermione asked.

Draco smirked, "It happened on one summer - "

"Stop, Draco!" Aurora yelled. "And let me tell the story."

"B-but... but..."

"No buts. You'll... embellish some details. I won't."

* * *

><p><em>Draco and I were with Mummy in the kitchen. We were eight, and we still wore matching clothes back then. Odd, right? I was wearing a golden dress robe while he was wearing a silver one. We had originally worn them the other way round but then they decided gold looked better on me (What else could you expect, really?) and silver looked better on Draco. (And that is why, my friends, I am so much better than my brother.)<em>

_"Alright, you two!" Mummy beamed. "Are you ready to learn how to cook?"_

_"Yes, Mummy!" Draco and I nodded enthusiastically. Mum then put a gigantic leg of ham in front of us. And we stared at it._

_"What are we supposed to do with it Mummy?" I asked._

_"What else?" Mummy smiled sweetly, making some spices and herbs from the pantry above us fly and land on the table in front of us. "You two are not going to learn how to cook properly unless you do it yourselves. After all, it is a Malfoy thing to be able to cook fairly decent meals."_

_"Then why do we need house elves to cook for us?" I questioned, but Mummy had left the kitchen._

_Draco and I sighed. We both barely knew how to boil water at the time, so how on earth were we going to make a gigantic leg of ham?_

_Simple. We make up a recipe._

_I started making the sauce with some rosemary, thyme and minced garlic. Draco was busy trying to boil some water for some soup. He was trying to turn up the heat even when it was sweltering hot already._

_"Don't, Draco!" I yelled frantically._

_"It needs to be hotter!" Draco complained, pushing the temperature control button angrily._

_"You're going to blow the house up if you do!" I shrieked._

_Draco, being Draco, didn't listen to me and kept pressing the temperature control button. By then, we both saw the water boiling crazily, and I thought the end was almost inevitable._

_"Draco, watch out!" I yelled, but he didn't seem to hear me over the -_

**_KABOOM!_**

_The kitchen was in ruins. Dear Merlin was it horrible. There was ash everywhere, everything seemed burnt, and you were blind. I swear Draco burnt both of us to death. Well, not really. But he did leave us both will charred faces. I knew right there and then - though it wasn't very important - that I was right. It _was_ too hot._

_I could barely see anything but smoke. I crawled out of the kitchen, coughing up smoke._

_"Mum!" I croaked. "Mum! Where are you?"_

_I heard the thumping of footsteps thumping down the stairs. I found Draco's arm next to my leg._

_"What did you do that for?" he muttered. I could tell that he didn't have much will to talk either._

_"Draco! Aurora!" I heard Mummy yell._

_"Mummy!" Draco and I shrieked, our voices breaking. Mummy heard us and she ran towards us, her footsteps a welcome change from the smoke that surrounded us. We could see nothing but her. It was damn scary._

_"Come!" Mummy shrieked, choking in the smoke. Somehow, in the midst of her state of blindness, she managed to scoop us both up into her arms, hanging onto her shoulder._

_"We need to get out of here!" I choked. Mummy nodded, running out of the kitchen._

_"Orfin!" Mummy yelled, and one of our house elves came running towards her, all ready to take her order. "Do you mind cleaning up the kitchen for us?"_

_"Yes, Mrs. Malfoy," the elf replied._

_"Thanks," Mummy nodded, and she entered the fireplace (the fire was already on by then, since Mummy had been reading her books by it), clutching the both of us in both arms. She somehow managed to hold a pinch of green powder before yelling, "St. Mungo's!"_

_We appeared there, in one of the many Floo points in the Hospital. Mum still managed to have us both in her arms when a Healer running by had spotted the three of us running together._

_"What's wrong, Mrs. Malfoy?" the Healer asked._

_"My son blew up my kitchen!" Mummy shrieked, her worrying nature apparent in her voice. As worrying as it sounded, I felt as if I wanted to laugh._

_"Are they conscious?" the Healer questioned._

_"They're both conscious, but I think they need to be treated as quickly as they could before they die from breathing in the smoke."_

_"Alright then."_

_The Healer summoned another group of Healers to take us to the Emergency Room. When we were wheeled onto the beds, we stared back at mother, crying our names._

* * *

><p>"And that is why, my friends," Aurora finished. "You should never let Draco cook dinner."<p>

"No! The story went totally and utterly wrong!" Draco complained. "The story went rather differently, actually."

"I told you guys the real story already!" Aurora frowned. "He's just going to change every single bloody detail there is!"

"Can you just get on with it, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, leaving her fiancé to smirk in approval.

* * *

><p><em>Aurora and I were with Mother in the kitchen. We were happy eight-year-olds, but because of Mother's ridiculous obsession with having 'perfect twins' (Ridiculous, right?), we were forced to wear these icky matching robes. I was wearing a fantastic, amazing silver dress robe while Aurora was wearing this dirty, cheap golden one. (I know gold is supposed to be more valuable, but silver is so much more pretty, don't you think?)<em>

_"Alright, you two!" Mother had said, smiling sweetly at the two of us. "Are you ready to learn how to cook?"_

_"Yes, Mummy!" us twins nodded enthusiastically. Merlin, were we idiots back then._

_Mother then set a leg of ham right in front of us. The first thought that rang in my head: _What the bloody hell were we supposed to do with this thing?

_"What are we supposed to do with it, Mummy?" Aurora asked._

Honestly, did you just get that out of my mind?

_"What else?" Mother smiled sweetly, flying some random herbs towards us. They landed swiftly and gracefully on the table. Oh, Mother. "You two are not going to learn how to cook properly unless you do it yourselves. After all, it is a Malfoy thing to be able to cook fairly decent meals."_

_Then why do we need house elves to cook for us? Aurora asked, but Mother had already left the kitchen._

Sucks to you_, I thought._

_I sighed, and so did she. At the exact same time. Coincidence? I think not._

_We stared at each other for a couple of seconds. Aurora took a bunch of these odd green herbs which I didn't (and still) knew the names of and some garlic and started to make some sort of sauce or seasoning with them, I think. Meanwhile, I decided to make some soup, so I turned on a tap, filled a pan with water and put it on the stove. It didn't seem to be hot enough for me, so I kept pressing this temperature control button at the edge of the stove._

_"Don't, Draco!" Aurora yelled, stopping whatever she was doing to stare at me, waving her arms about._

_"It needs to be hotter!" I replied coolly, continuing pushing the temperature control button._

_"You're going to blow the house up if you do!" Aurora shrieked._

Why the hell would you think I do that?

_I saw the water boil like crazy, I tried pressing the temperature button down but it wouldn't work. I could almost hear Aurora scream, "Draco! Watch out - "_

**_BAAANG!_**

_The kitchen was in ruins. I couldn't feel anything but hazy smoke in my nose._

_"Mum! Mum! Where are you?"_

_It was Aurora._

_I slowly followed the sound of her voice through all of the smoke. I grabbed her leg, and I could feel her staring at me, but she wasn't exactly aware of it._

_"What did you do that for?" I croaked. In truth, I only said that to break the silence._

_"Draco! Aurora!" I heard Mother yell._

_"Mummy!" we yelled._

_"Come!" Mother shrieked, choking in the smoke. She scooped us both up in her arms: I was on her left, Aurora on her right. We were both hanging onto our lives._

_"We need to get out of here!" Aurora breathed. Mother nodded, running out of the kitchen with both of us._

_"Orfin!"_

_My favourite house elf came running as quick as lightning. He stared at me for a second, a look of regret, and he stared back at my mother._

_"Do you mind cleaning up the kitchen for us?"_

_"Yes, Mrs. Malfoy," the elf said._

_"Thanks," Mother nodded, and she entered the burning fireplace, still holding the both of us in her arms. After she got a pinch of green powder, she dropped it slowly and yelled, "St. Mungo's!"_

_I felt myself being pushed up for a while, and then I felt like I was being pushed down again. Mother walked out of one of the apparition points in St. Mungo's near a chaotic part of the Hospital. A Healer was running by with a flustered face, before she turned towards Mother, stopping._

_"What's wrong, Mrs. Malfoy?" the Healer asked._

_"My son blew up my kitchen!" Mother shrieked, sounding extremely worried._

_"Are they conscious?" the Healer asked again._

_"They're both conscious, but I think they need to be treated as quickly as they could before they die from breathing in the smoke," Mother replied._

_"Alright then."_

_The Healer put us both on beds, and I felt guilty as I watched Mother cry tears of gold. Well, not really._

* * *

><p>"I support Aurora's account," Hermione replied. "So much more realistic."<p>

Aurora's eyes gleamed, while Draco's jaws dropped.

"But I'm your fiancé!" Draco whined.

"Shut up, whiney!" Aurora laughed, turning to Ron. "Who do you think has a more realistic account?"

"I don't care," Ron shrugged. "They're pretty much the same accounts with different wording. But if I had to choose, I'd choose Aurora's."

"Yay!" Aurora beamed, leaping up to hug Ron. "I love you, Ron!"

Ron's ears turned red, and his face turned freakishly pale as Aurora hugged him, while she rolled her eyes as she let him go.

"Not really, you idiot!" she smiled, but she was blushing furiously as well. No one bothered to take any notice of that since she was doing an even weirder victory dance.

"Uhhh... guys," Draco announced, startling Ron and Aurora. "Where are we going to live until our place is fixed?"

"Our place!" Aurora grinned. Ron simply stared at her.

"Are you mad?" Ron yelled. Aurora simply stared back at him, her eyes fiercely narrowing.

"There is no need to yell at me!" she screamed, but when she next spoke her tone was much calmer. "I think they should stay with us, because he is my brother, and our house is the closest one to theirs, so when they move back, they won't have to go too far."

Ron nodded, "Yes, I suppose so. But still, why can't they stay in their Hogwarts dormitories?"

"One, they're in different houses. Two, everyone will keep pestering them with questions like _'Where the fuck have you been?'_ and three, all the dormitories are full!"

"Dumbledore can get something specially arranged!"

As Aurora and Ron continued their somewhat pointless argument, Draco and Hermione decided to step out of it and take Hermione's bike and pedal all the way to the Headmaster's Office to see what arrangements he could make. Draco, who couldn't ride a bike (he could, just not without training wheels), sat in the back, while Hermione was stuck in the front, pedalling the bike slowly through the Estate.

"Those two," Draco smirked, holding onto Hermione's shoulders. "They are really quite something, aren't they?"

"Too right they are," Hermione giggled. "But it's their business, really. So I don't think it's not our place to talk about them like that."

"Granger," Draco sighed, shaking his head in mock despair. "This is my sister - and your best friend - we're talking about here. Of course we have a right to talk about them like we did."

The two of them continued to argue animatedly all the way to Dumbledore's Office.

* * *

><p>When Hermione and Draco got back to The Weasley Villa, they were surprised to see Aurora and Ron were not yelling and screaming at each other (they knew how long Ron and Aurora's arguments could last), but they were back in their houses, along with Harry, Luna, Blaise and Ginny. They were all having dinner: leg of ham, spaghetti, caesar salad and mushroom soup.<p>

"Oi!" Draco yelled, pounding on the glass doors. Aurora turned around from the dining table, smirked at her brother and nodded. He then came in with Hermione, holding a suitcase in both of her hands.

"We're staying with you, Aurora!" Hermione beamed, dropping her suitcase on the carpet. Draco did the exact same thing a millisecond after that. Aurora squealed and flung her arms around Hermione - who hated embraces - while Hermione reluctantly put her arms around her best friend.

"Thank goodness for you," spoke Aurora, who eventually started to garble. "We have a humongous library. Like, really humongous. You can go see it later. But first, have some dinner first. I bet you two are starving! Ginny, Luna, Blaise and I all had a turn at cooking whatever we liked. Cool, huh?"

"Yes," Draco replied quickly. He knew how long his sister could garble. "Yes, it is cool."

"Thanks Drake," Aurora smiled. She then walked up to the dining tables and pointed to two empty chairs. "Sit."

"B-But..." Hermione objected. "Don't you and Ron - "

" - need to sort a couple of things out?" Aurora interrupted. "Yeah, we do."

"Thank you," Draco smiled politely towards his sister, who was already climbing up the stairs with Ron. They seemed to be deep in conversation about something, so Draco didn't mind that she had totally ignored him.

_They look very cute together,_ Draco thought, staring at the couple. _Well, when they're not arguing._

"Yes, they do look quite cute together, don't they?" Luna had suddenly asked Draco. She had been sitting next to him. _What the hell is she? A mind reader? _he thought. He only nodded to her in response, the nicest thing he could do.


	12. Birthdays and Books

**A/N: Hello, and welcome to this extremely long chapter! It features birthdays, books and the Chronicles of Narnia. Thanks for the reviews and favourites you guys! :)**

**This was a very difficult chapter to write, and for some reason, it made me think of 24. XD Hahaha... enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Chronicles of Narnia nor Harry Potter.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Two weeks (and three days) had passed by since the fateful explosion, and everything had returned to normal. Well, normal for the Sixth and Seventh Year couples getting married, and that wasn't exactly normal.<p>

A week after the explosion, Draco and Hermione moved back into their Villa, which had been restored to its original condition. When they arrived at their repaired house, Draco had rushed all over the house to see if they had made any improvements to it. Sadly (for him), they didn't, but Hermione said that the house was big enough for a hundred people, which, shockingly, shut him up.

For Law Classes, nothing could change everybody's hatred for Professor Abercrombie. They still hide from her and not pay attention when she was talking. Once, all the children slacked off for the entire Law Class, and Professor Abercrombie tried to sentence them all to detention. However, all four Heads of House had defended their students, saying that they were all with them when they 'missed' Law Classes. That made Professor Abercrombie mad, so for every lesson, she made the children teach themselves how to dance (and fail miserably at it) instead of getting the couples to get to know each other.

Luna and Harry are doing well, almost as well as the so-called 'model couple' Professor Abercrombie had seen: Lavender and Seamus. They (_almost_) never argue and they often share the same opinions about... well, everything. They have been sending regular owls with the Potters and Mr. Lovegood on a couple of wedding details, and they are going to meet each other's parents in Halloween holidays.

Blaise and Ginny are gaining some progress. They both have stopped calling each other rude names and had started calling each other by their last names, which was a hard thing to do (as seen by the Malfoy twins, Hermione and Ron anyway). They have started talking to each other in a less hostile way, their tones were sometimes almost close to friendly, in fact.

Draco and Hermione had stopped being enemies since the explosion. Besides the fact Draco couldn't stop smirking and making crude preferences to everything and Hermione couldn't stop using words that were almost unpronounceable, they were reasonably good friends. They had a lot in common and they both agreed on most things.

On the other hand, Ron and Aurora still jinxed each other, but these occasions were extremely rare and they weren't as severe as it used to be. No one could figure whether they liked or hated each other. Sometimes, when they thought that no one could notice, everyone could notice that they usually walked around together arm in arm or holding hands and had this look in their eyes when they looked at each other that made them sparkle. But when they thought that everyone was looking, they kept their hands firmly to their sides and always glare daggers at each other, although sometimes Aurora would sneak a few glances at him when he's not looking, then she would stare at the floor and blush furiously.

* * *

><p><em>September 19th 1997, 6:15am<em>

_Master Bedroom, First Floor, The Weasley Villa, 17 Albus Avenue, Hogwarts Estate, Scotland_

"Ron!" Aurora yelled, shaking Ron fiercely. She was sitting next to him on the bed, all dressed up in her Hogwarts robes. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

Ron stirred slightly, trying to sit up, but he was barely moving.

"_Aguamenti_!" Aurora chanted, flicking her wand towards Ron's face. A jet of water spurted towards Ron's face, landing on him. This made him shriek.

"AURORA! WHAT THE _HELL_ WERE YOU DOING?" he bellowed, expecting Aurora to jump off the bed and yell a million curses at him. She didn't.

"I'm sorry," she smirked, before muttering a drying charm under her breath. The bed (and Ron's head) became instantly dry.

"That's better," Ron replied, staring around at the bed. "Now, why on earth did you have to wake me up so early?"

"Don't you know what today is?" she questioned her fiancé curiously, waving a calendar in front of him. The date September 19th was circled in bright red ink. Under it were the words '_Hermione's Birthday_'.

"Oh..." Ron whispered, his face turning pale.

"You forgot, didn't you?" Aurora asked, as if she was expecting it. Ron nodded slowly. His fiancée then shoved a present very badly wrapped present in front of him.

"You are so lucky I got another quilt in the summer before you came to the Manor," Aurora sighed, grabbing a pen from her pocket and passing it to Ron. "Write your name on it while I get some of the party equipment ready."

"Party equipment?" Ron enquired. "What party? Is it for Hermione?"

"Oh," Aurora mumbled, shaking her head. "It's just... nothing. Never mind. But tell anybody about it and you'll have to pay another visit to the Hospital Wing"

She left the room in a hurry. She couldn't tell Ron about the surprise birthday party she had planned with everyone but Luna and Ron. But what was the point of telling him in the first place, anyway? One: he'd tell Hermione. (After all, before this whole Marriage Law fiasco started, he had a major crush on her) Two: he was already going to be there. Three: Well, she can't think of a third reason. But that's besides the point, she thought.

Meanwhile, Ron had already written his name on the present as neatly as he could. He then saw Aurora's present lying on the bedside table. It was very neatly wrapped, with a blue bow on top of the fancy Muggle wrapper she had gotten a few years back. He found the tag which said who it was from, covered in Aurora's neat and elegant handwriting:

_To Hermione, who is finally of age (in the Muggle World, anyway),_  
><em>I hope you like this book! ;) Got it off a discount in some piddly Muggle bookstore. They didn't have many books to choose from, but at least the place was cozy. Before you open this present and complain to me miserably it is not a book of non-fiction, I think you deeserve a break on reading six hundred pages on fact or old-fashioned literature where they talk too much about... a certain subject and at least try to immerse yourself in the world of fantasy. <em>

_Love you always,_  
><em>- A.B.W xxx<em>

Wait - did he just read it right?

Aurora always signed off in her initials when she was writing notes or greetings to someone, but the last time he checked, her initials were A.B.M, not A.B.W. Maybe it was a typo; she did those all the time. Yes, it had to be. She liked him, that was true, but she didn't like like him, right?

Right?

But if he knew one thing about Aurora Beatrice Malfoy, it disproves his theory there and then by a longshot.

She didn't make typos.

* * *

><p><em>10:01am<em>

_Classroom 2E, Third Floor, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland_

Aurora and Hermione were on the way to the Charms classroom together from Arithmancy. Their Charms classroom was a bit far from their Arithmancy's; about four or five floors down, so they often jumped a couple of steps on the staircases.

They were happily chatting together about the equations and problems like there was no other thing in the world, but they knew they had an awful lot of things at the back of their minds: No one had said happy birthday to Hermione this morning, and Aurora was thinking about the most important party ever.

"Hey Aurora," Hermione asked Aurora. She knew it was sudden but how else could she have gotten any answers. "Do you remember anything special about today? Anything at all?"

"No," Aurora replied, acting startled. She chanted three words in her head: _Don't tell Hermione. Don't tell Hermione..._ "Why are you asking?"

"It's just nothing. It's just that, I swear there is something special about today, that's all..."

The two entered the Charms Classroom. Hermione walked to the left side of the classroom, while Aurora walked to the right. Hermione found a seat next to Ron, while Aurora sat in the middle of Lavender and Blaise, laughing and giggling about something. She didn't even take a glance at her best friend.

"Is Aurora alright?" Hermione asked, fiddling with her quill.

"I don't know," Ron sighed, turning towards Professor Flitwick. He wanted to tell Hermione what Aurora had accidentally slipped out this morning, but he knew he couldn't. She'd kill him. "Whatever she's up to, she didn't tell me about it."

* * *

><p><em>1:20pm<em>

_Great Hall, Ground Floor, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland_

Everyone except Ron, Harry and Ginny seemed to be wishing Hermione 'Happy Birthdays' today. Other than them, she got a few curt 'Happy Birthdays' from the teachers, but that was it. Everyone else ignored her completely, even her best friend in the whole wide world. It made her upset, but she knew she could get through it. Maybe Aurora had something to do that kept her busy. With the entire Seventh Year. Now that was a new level of suspicion.

Aurora was sitting with Dean, Seamus, Lavender, Parvati and - Merlin's _beard_ - Colin Creevey. They were giggling about something, but nobody outside their group knew what. The looks of joy on their faces made Hermione want to cry, but since she isn't the sort of person who cries over nothing, she only put a scowl on her face and fiddles playfully with her food.

"Hermione," Ginny asked. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Hermione sighed, a tear coming down her cheek. Harry nodded in comprehension.

"Aurora's not talking to you, isn't she?" he asked. Hermione nodded.

"I'm sure she has a good reason," Ginny sighed, putting an arm around her friend. "You know that she can be as loyal as a Hufflepuff if she wants to."

"I suppose so..." Hermione muttered. "But why won't she tell me why?"

"Maybe it's something that you don't really care about," Ron suggested. "Like Divination."

"But Aurora doesn't take Divination," Harry and Hermione chorused.

"Maybe she's talking about make-up," Ron suggested once again. Ginny shook her head.

"Nah," she said coolly. "I think she's talking about Quidditch. I mean, think about it. I doubt Colin, Dean and Seamus would be interested in make-up, out of all people."

"Well, I don't care," Hermione whispered. "I just want one of you to talk to her, that's all."

"I'll do it!" Ron volunteered, waving his left arm about in the air.

_"Dear Merlin!"_ Harry and Ginny gasped.

"A-Are you sure she's not going to bite you?" Harry asked concernedly, but Ron ignored him.

"She's mine," Ron said fiercely, jabbing himself in the chest with his thumb. "My fiancée, wife, (whatever) my talk."

"Uhh... thank you Ron," Hermione smiled, though the joy in her voice it had was not as real as it should have been. It wasn't joy. It was surprise.

* * *

><p><em>4:30pm<em>

_Master Bedroom, First Floor, The Weasley Villa, 17 Albus Avenue, Hogwarts Estate, Scotland_

Ron knew he had to talk to Aurora. He promised Hermione he would.

He pounded on their bedroom door, which Aurora had locked magically a few minutes ago, so Alohomora wasn't going to do the trick.

The door clicked.

Ron entered the room, only to see Aurora's hair curlier than humanely possible, an elegant red dress that made her look like the Red Queen with a really, really puffy skirt. The dress had golden patterns on it, making her look like a female version of Godric Gryffindor. Aurora was also wearing a puffy white shirt with long sleeves that reached her wrist. She came towards Ron, staring at him for a while. She smiled curtly at him, her dangly earrings sparkling in the light. Besides the crazy outfit, Ron thought Aurora had looked beautiful.

"Hello," she smiled. Ron stared at her like she was a spider.

"W-What is this?" he yelled, pointing at her dress. "Why the hell have you been dressing like this?"

"Because I can," Aurora laughed.

"Oh crap," Ron announced. "Don't tell me you're planning to join a bunch of circus freaks!"

"And why would I do that?" Aurora curiously question, her face turned into an expression of mock surprise.

"Exactly. My question is more like: Why are you ignoring Hermione?"

Aurora rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Haven't you heard of book-themed surprise birthday parties?"

Ron's mouth formed into a big 'O'.

"So that's why you've been ignoring your own best friend!" he smiled in triumph. "You were simply planning a surprise birthday party for her! Wait 'til I tell her this!"

Aurora raised her eyebrows. "Ron," she said in a cautious tone. "What part of surprise don't you get?"

"Oh..." Ron replied, his smile of triumph fading. "So... you're dressing up like some sort of crazy princess, and who am I supposed to dress up as?"

"I'm Beatrice," Aurora corrected. "And you're Benedick."

Ron raised his eyebrow. The name sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't remember why or how. "What?"

"You heard me. I'm Beatrice and you're Benedick. You know, from when we learned Shakespeare in O.W.L year. And I'm not making you dress up as Benedick because their names match - which they do," Aurora smirked schemingly, making Ron's face turn purple. Her tone when she next spoke, sounded a lot more rational. "I'm doing it because we, like Beatrice and Benedick, are enemies with lots of witty words exchanged with each other. In other words, it just means that they fight a lot."

"And why on earth would I want to be some fluffy man from some old story?"

Aurora narrowed her eyes. She spoke the next words in a high-pitched voice which was a cross between an insult and pity. "Either that, or you're going to have to go as plain, old Ronald Weasley."

Ron's ears turned bright red. He hated it when people called him plain. Or old. And that coming out of Aurora's thin mouth was like a verbal Fiendfyre that swallowed every single bit of you: your heart, your mind, your soul.

"Fine," Ron huffed. "Go ahead."

Aurora smiled, grabbed Ron's wrist, and she made him sit down on a chair as she looked around for a comb.

"B-But how is Hermione going to find out about this?" he asked curiously.

"I've got that part covered," Aurora smirked, roughly combing Ron's hair. He winced in pain a little bit. "Now shut up and let me do my work."

* * *

><p><em>6:55pm<em>

_Living Room, Ground Floor, The Malfoy Villa, 19 Albus Avenue, Hogwarts Estate, Scotland_

Hermione was reading, her body limp and dead on the couch. Her face looked like a permanent state of sadness., her eyes red and puffy. Everybody had left her today: Ginny, Aurora, Draco... hell, even Ron had left her. She was all alone now, wallowing in her own misery. On her bloody birthday, out of all days!

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Hermione whispered, so that no one but herself could hear.

The door creaked noisily as it opened. There was a dark figure stepping into the villa. He or she shut the door behind him without a pause, like he or she did when they opened it. Hermione turned around to face the figure as it came closer to her, her eyes relaxing as she said the name of the figure. She recognized him.

_Harry._

"What on earth are you doing here, sulking and reading?" Harry asked joyfully, sitting next to Hermione on the couch. "You should be going out, have a bit of fresh air - you know what I mean."

"How can I walk and read when all of my friends can't remember my birthday?" Hermione sighed. Harry shook his head, knowing she actually meant only one person.

"Talk to them!" he persuaded Hermione. "I mean, that's the best way you're going to make them do anything about it, right?"

Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment, but after a while, she nodded.

"Yeah," she agreed. "I suppose so."

"Come on!" Harry exclaimed, running to the door. "Let's go talk! We haven't got all night!"

"Wait for me!" Hermione laughed, bouncing.

* * *

><p><em>7:00pm<em>

_Living Room, Ground Floor, The Weasley Villa, 17 Albus Avenue, Hogwarts Estate, Scotland_

"Happy birthday, 'Mione!"

Hermione had came into the Weasley House with the entire Sixth and Seventh Years celebrating her birthday, dressing up as book characters from many different books as a tribute to her.

"Merlin's beard!" Hermione gasped. "I-I thought you'd all forgotten."

"Us?" Ernie Macmillan laughed. "Forget about you?"

"That's like trying to forget about Dumbledore!" piped up Evangeline Presley, a Sixth Year Hufflepuff. She then stared at Hermione, who looked like she was going to faint.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" Archibald Grant and Axelle Lincoln chorused. Hermione nodded.

"I-I'm fine," she replied, smiling. "I-It's just that... well... thank you all for remembering! I-I never thought you guys could throw a party like this."

Everyone nodded and went back to their friends and started drinking, dancing and eating. A figure of a young lady was coming towards Hermione, walking as quickly as she could. She had dressed up in an elegant red sixteenth century dress, with her hair looking more curly than Hermione had ever been.

"Happy anniversary, my lady!" Aurora said in a very posh voice. She curtsied to the birthday girl elegantly, a sweet smile on her face. "I shall be happy as long as thou art as well! I hope thou shall find pleasure in this gathering."

"Enough with the weird accent!" Hermione chuckled. "It's killing me."

"But then how shall I welcome you with my presence?" Aurora smirked mockingly. "Okay, fine. The olde English accent can be a little annoying sometimes, I have to say."

"Better," Hermione agreed. "Who are you dressed up as?"

"Beatrice," Aurora smiled. "You know - from _Much Ado About Nothing_?"

Hermione nodded in comprehension._ Of course_, she thought. _Her namesake._

"I'm sorry that I ignored you at lunch and Charms today. I had to do some preparations for this," Aurora muttered. Hermione nodded, hugging Aurora for a second before letting go. Aurora smiled, showing all of her teeth. It was not everyday Hermione initiated the hug.

"Who is Ron dressed up as?" Hermione asked in confusion, pointing to a strange man with flaming red hair who was wearing puffy trousers and shirts he were not used to. It was obvious; he looked unconfortable and his eyes were filled with worry. "He looks a bit... odd, I think."

"Who do you think?" Aurora smirked. Hermione's jaws dropped.

"_Benedick?_" Hermione whispered. "B-But isn't Ron a bit suspicious?"

"He was. At least, until I told him Beatrice and Benedick were enemies who exchanged witty words with each other. He doesn't remember a thing from O.W.L year!"

Hermione bit her lip. "Well, that is partially true."

"See?" Aurora smiled. She then linked her arm to her best friend's, hanging over a glass of fruit punch. "My plans always work!"

There was a pause, which Aurora broke when she next spoke.

"For heaven's sake, Hermione! Have some fun! Talk to people, see the sights, have a little drink of whiskey..."

Hermione's face grew shocked over the last one.

"Okay, fine. Maybe you won't drink at all, you party pooper," Aurora sighed, rolling her eyes. "But at least have some fun! One: you're eighteen now, you can have a little drink. Two: you need to relax. Three: I think socializing would be good for you."

"Oh, alright then. Thanks, Aurora."

"No problem, Herms."

* * *

><p><em>September 20th 1997, 1:00am<em>

_Master Bedroom, First Floor, The Malfoy Villa, 19 Albus Avenue, Hogwarts Estate, Scotland_

The party had ended two hours before, and when it ended Hermione wanted nothing but open her presents. She simply had to open them since it's not every day that you get one hundred presents from people who cared about you, and you don't turn eighteen everyday either. _Thank goodness it was a Saturday_, Hermione thought, opening yet another present. For a second, she smiled at his calm, angelic face. She had never seen him this calm before.

Hermione had opened up nearly all of the presents and that took about one and half hours. She had gotten an awful lot of books: five were on the history of Hogwarts, ten were on the history of Wizarding World, a homework planner, three of them were the exact same book and copy on mythical creatures (Unsurprisingly, one of them was from Luna) from all over the world. The more interesting ones, however, came from her friends and fiancé: Harry had given Hermione a star-shaped golden notebook with her name carved into the cover with a matching golden pen, Ginny had given her a blue handmade friendship bracelet which said 'Ginny, Aurora and Hermione forever' which Hermione had seen Ginny and Aurora wear before (but Ginny's was red and Aurora's was purple), Ron had given her a beautiful quilt with pretty moving birds and Draco had given her a beautiful mother-of-pearl necklace, which she was wearing right now.

Hermione had put the present she had just opened: _Tales of Beedle the Bard_. There was only one present left to open now.

Aurora's.

Her wrapper was beautiful in itself to be a present, and a beautiful bluw bow sat on the top-left corner of it. Underneath it was a simple white tag which had a message written on it:

_To Hermione, who is finally of age (in the Muggle World, anyway),_  
><em>I hope you like this book! ;) Got it off a discount in some piddly Muggle bookstore. They didn't have many books to choose from, but at least the place was cozy. Before you open this present and complain to me miserably it is not a book of non-fiction, I think you deeserve a break on reading six hundred pages on fact or old-fashioned literature where they talk too much about... a certain subject and at least try to immerse yourself in the world of fantasy. <em>

_Love you always,_  
><em>- A.B.W xxx<em>

Hermione smiled, tearing off the wrapper gently. Her present was yet another book.

_The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis._

What was fascinating about it was that it was old. Really, really old. Older than Aurora. Older than Hermione. Merlin, it could be older than Hermione's parents. But for such an old-looking book, the pages aren't as tattered and the colour didn't fade as much as Hermione thought it would.

Hermione checked the publishing date in the first few pages of the book, because she wondered if it was a genuinely old book or if it just made to look old. Only four numbers managed to catch her attention:

One. Nine. Five. Zero.

She had just received a genuine first edition of the children's book she had loved the most.

* * *

><p><em>Master Bedroom, First Floor, The Weasley Villa, 17 Albus Avenue, Hogwarts Estate, Scotland<em>

She sighed, a feeling of resentment and regret buzzing in her head. Today was the day.

Twelve years ago, she had watched her aunt die. She had been five at the time. You don't watch someone die when you were five and not think about it when you were all grown up and how you could have stopped it.

_But there was nothing you could do,_ she thought. _You were five. Even if you could testify against her wrongdoings, the Ministry might think you were forced to by your parents. But they didn't need to. You'd do it in a heartbeat. No. A blink of an eye._

She watched the figure next to her on the bed sleep, his arm outstretched behind her head. She sighed again, but this time with sadness, ignoring the comfort the arm brought her. _He didn't need to know_, she thought. _He can't. I lo-_like_ him too much to make him feel upset at my expense._

_Looks like I'm going to have to sulk this year._

_It wasn't so bad all the other years. In First Year, there was a Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and Harry was in it as his first time as a Seeker, so I could cheer my heart out for him. We had won. Second Year, my mind was only thinking about Quidditch Practice. In Third Year, it was our first Hogsmeade weekend, so there was too much excitement to worry about anything. When this day fell in Fourth Year, there was an awful lot of excitement about the Triwizard Tournament, and how could you think of anything else? Fifth Year, there was so much pressure to do well in OWLs. I forgot about everything else. Sixth Year, I had a date with Blaise in the Courtyard Best thing ever._

_Why did it have to be the hardest in the year I was supposed to love the most?_


	13. Tragedies and Truths

**A/N: Hello! For this chapter, it's short, but important. I also included a song choice for this chapter, because I heard it on the telly (NCIS, anyone?) and I thought it fits the chapter so well. Enjoy - and remember to review! ;)  
><strong>

**P.S. We hit 15 reviews in the last chapter. Thanks! x**

**- nietsmmar**

* * *

><p><em>Caught by the light aware but asleep<em>  
><em> Never as close as the friends that you keep<em>  
><em> Drifting away on one final breath<em>  
><em> The further you climb a calm silhouette<em>

_- Caught By The Light, The Boxer Rebellion_

* * *

><p><em>September 20th 1997, 9:00am <em>

_The Weasley Villa, 17 Albus Avenue, Hogwarts Estate, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland_

Ron woke up at exactly nine o'clock in the morning. It was sunny outside, something almost unheard of in September. He stretched his arms out, yawning loudly. He stared at the bed around him. Aurora wasn't there.

_That's odd,_ he thought._ Aurora always wakes up later than I do on Saturdays. That's the only day of the week I can prove to her I can wake up early._

Ron searched for his fiancee in the library. She wasn't there. He checked the balcony. She wasn't there either. Thinking of other places where Aurora could be, he then went downstairs, looking all around for her. She wasn't in the kitchen, or the living room. She wasn't even in the gardens swimming (though this was a rare occasion anyway) or swinging in the swings. This worried him to no end.

"Where are you, Aurora?" he muttered under his breath.

Back in the house, Ron found a piece of parchment that lay on the dining table. It was a bit old and tattered. The edges were slightly burnt and the edges were not even. He picked it up, reading something he didn't expect to read.

_Dear Ron,_  
><em>Draco and I will be gone for today. Don't worry - we're not going anywhere out of Britain. Nor are we doing anything illegal. Mummy just wants us back home to sort out some... things at the Manor. I'll explain everything to you when I get back, okay? Tell the others I've gone home to see my parents (which is, after all, partially true). In the meantime, do things as you normally would on a Saturday.<em>

_Aurora Beatrice Malfoy_

_P.S. I'm fine. Don't go all overprotective over me or... ugh. Whatever.  
><em>

"Bloody hell."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Two Hours Earlier<em>**

Aurora had just woken up from only three mere hours of sleep. She couldn't fall asleep.

Five hours ago, she had been sulking and thinking about her Aunt's death. How The Day had been ignored for the past six years because of what happened on those days. To be completely honest with herself, she has never thought of That Day ever since she entered Hogwarts.

At least, until Draco mentioned it to her last summer.

_"Don't you remember what happened to Aunt Bellatrix?" he had spoken._

_"Of course I do!" she had yelled back._

_"Did I cry?" he had asked her. "No, you did."_

She could remember crying on his shoulder like it was yesterday, her tears running down her flustered cheeks. She wanted to cry on his shoulder right now. He was the only person she could think of that understood, that knew, that cared. After all, he was there too when she had died.

She clutched the owl her mother had sent her that morning. Her mother's beautiful tawny owl, Bella (named after her dead sister), had sent it to her this morning. She had read it enough times to memorize the contents:

_Dear Aurora,_  
><em>I'm coming to get you from Hogwarts at precisely 7 o'clock. We're going to visit your Aunt Bella for the first time in years. Get a bouquet of flowers ready for her. Draco will meet you outside.<em>

_- Mother_

She sighed, remembering the events of that day eleven years ago. It sometimes shocked her to find that she could be so... weak. But then again, she was five back then. Five-year-olds did not sit around and do nothing when they see someone die in front of their very eyes. Not to mention the grisly images she had seen in front of her eyes.

The doorbell rang.

Aurora walked up slowly to the door, taking her time. She had left the parchment she left for Ron where it was. She grasped the doorknob, staring at the shiny golden glow it had. She took a bit of time to look at every single detail. How the little rosy patterns on the doorknob repeat itself without a single blemish. How the doorknob look knew but feel so old. How the -

"AURORA! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!"

Aurora jumped slightly and opened the door as slowly as she could. Draco was standing in front of her, crossing his arms.

"Well?" he yelled. "Do you have an explanation?"

"I had a lot to think about in my mind," Aurora replied, trying to sound bitter. Draco stared at her hands.

"Where are your flowers?" Draco asked angrily.

Aurora non-verbally summoned a bouquet of flowers from her garden: twelve pink carnations, five marigolds, an aloe vera, and three snowdrops.

"Happy, _Malfoy_?" she smiled sarcastically, holding the bouquet of flowers to her chest. Draco laughed.

"Did you just call me _Malfoy_, Sister?" he spoke in the midst of his laughter. Aurora narrowed her eyes at her ignorant brother.

"I have permission to," she said sourly, waving her wedding ring in front of her brother who was on the verge of tears of joy. Draco stared at the Lancaster rose pattern on her ring finger, and his laughter faded.

"H-How did he know?" he asked curiously.

"He takes Divination, you dolt!" Aurora yelled, almost instantly after Draco had finished. "He's supposed to memorize this sort of... information. I think. I don't want to know what sort of crap Trelawney teaches."

Draco nodded.

"Well," he said firmly. "It still does not explain why you called me Malfoy."

"You do remember you're married on the first day of school when Dumbledore made us all stand there and exchange rings. And you're married," Aurora smirked. "To none other than Hermione Granger - oops, I meant Hermione Malfoy. And I'm officially Aurora Weasley. So, I do have permission to call you Malfoy."

Draco pretended to gasp. "Are you saying that you like being married to Weasley?"

Aurora shook her head. She laughed, "Only for that reason."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Let's go," he said bitterly. "Mother will be waiting."

"B-But Malfoy's don't wait!" Aurora argued frantically.

"Exactly."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Eleven Years Ago<em>**

_September 20 1986, 10:00am_

_Courtroom Ten, Ministry of Magic, London_

"Miss Lestrange," Fudge announced. "You have been sentenced to a Dementor's Kiss on September twentieth, nineteen eighty-six at exactly ten o'clock sharp for four counts of first degree manslaughter, is that correct?"

Bellatrix cackled, her laughter shaking the room. Fudge nodded and simply wrote some notes on his parchment.

"Oh well," he announced, his voice booming throughout the room. "Bring in the Dementor."

A Dementor immediately entered the room, sucking the happiness out of it. The adults tried to cast a Patronus Charm, like Narcissa and Andromeda, hugging their children close to them. Only Andromeda could cast a corporeal Patronus, so she huddled her daughter and her niece and nephew under her to protect them as well.

Bellatrix opened her mouth to cackle, and so did the Dementor.

"Forever will I be loyal to you, My Lord!" were Bellatrix Lestrange's last word.

There was something grey being sucked out of her as she was cackling, but she also seemed to be saying something. The audience looked at it in horror, trying to cover up their eyes. Draco and Tonks, who knew what was going on, covered up their eyes, but Aurora was gazing curiously at the scene.

"What's happening to Aunt Bellatrix, Aunt Dromeda?" she questioned her aunt.

"Your aunt's being Kissed by a Dementor," her aunt replied bluntly. "That means she's going to die."

Aurora's mouth gaped open. "No!" she yelled, watching her aunt's soul being sucked into the Dementor.

"Don't! Aunt Bellatrix!" she shrieked, on the verge of tears. "Aunt Bellatrix! Please!"

"There's nothing you can do," her brother sighed, holding his sister back. His sister was still flailing her arms about as tears rolled down her cheeks like a waterfall, trying to reach her aunt. But it was much too late. Her aunt's soul was sucked and gone. Her body lay lifeless in the cold wooden chair. The courtroom stayed silent as Aurora's cries penetrated their ears, hearts and minds.

"Don't!" she cried. She sobbed mercilessly into her brother's chest, and her cousin was trying to soothe her by running her fingers through her hair. By then, the entire courtroom was staring at her, even the Dementor. Their faces were not with disguest or anger, as if they had seen a crazy person scream over an even crazier person, but it was filled with pity and sympathy, like a child screaming for its toy.

"You can't do anything about it anymore, little Rora," Tonks whispered. Aurora stopped flailing her arms about, but the tears were still rolling down her cheeks. "She's gone."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Present Day<em>**

_10:00am Grand Black Cemetery, Wiltshire, England_

Aurora, Narcissa and Draco stepped down from their carriage, stopping right in front of Bellatrix's gravestone. Aurora gasped when she saw Bellatrix's gravestone, and she started crying on Draco's shoulder again. He held her there with his arm, trying to sooth her by rubbing her back gently. Meanwhile, Narcissa saw two figures coming towards her, each holding a bouquet of roses: Andromeda and Nymphadora Tonks.

"Andromeda," Narcissa said bitterly.

"Narcissa," Andromeda replied, just as bitterly. She stared at her sister bitterly, barely letting go of Narcissa's gaze. Both their gazes could turn milk sour, and it could make even Merlin run and jump off the Astronomy Tower.

Behind them, another interesting conversation was getting started.

"Wotcher, Rora!" Tonks grinned, looking at her crying cousin. "Are you alright?"

Aurora looked up and put a wobbly smile on her face.

"Tonks," said Aurora, sounding both pleased and relieved. "I'm fine, thanks to you. What are you doing here?"

"Visiting my aunt," Tonks grinned happily, but when she said aunt you can tell she did not like it one bit. "How did you two get out of Hogwarts?"

"Mother asked for permission from Headmaster Dumbledore if we can go out of school and he said we can," Draco replied, sounding angry and resentful. He then stared Tonks in the eye and said, "Why do you seem so happy?"

"She's always happy, you dolt!" Aurora said angrily, shaking her head at her brother's stupidity. "A more appropriate question would be: why on earth are you so happy for someone on a graveyard? I know you hate Aunt Bellatrix, but still..."

"No reason," Tonks grinned, her hair turning red. Aurora narrowed her eyes.

_Damn. I wish I was a Legillimens._

"You can tell me Tonks," Aurora smiled, but it was a fake one only she can tell the difference of. "I can keep my mouth shut, unlike _this_ boy. And besides, I need something to keep me from going teary-eyed."

Tonks whispered something in Aurora ear, who gasped with delight when Tonks finished talking.

"You're _what?_" Aurora smiled. Tonks nodded, her hair turning pink.

"Yeah..." she said shyly. "Yeah, I am."

"That's wonderful!" smiled the young blonde, leaping up into her cousin's arms. Tonks happily hugged her back, but Draco was raising his eyebrow, looking at the two of them with a confused expression on his face.

"What are you two talking about?" he asked suspiciously, and the two girls giggled.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Back in Hogwarts<strong>_

_The Potter Villa, 14 Albus Avenue, Hogwarts Estate, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

Ron was busy playing Wizard Chess with Harry. That was the first thing he did after he took a shower. But there was a difference between this chess game and the others: for once, Ron was losing. It was a miracle for Ron to lose a Wizard's Chess game, especially against Harry, but it was more of a miracle for him to be losing by a mile.

"Knight F2," Ron droned, and his knight got chopped up by one of Harry's.

"Ron, mate, are you alright?" Harry asked. "If you want I'll get Luna to make some tea."

"I'm fine," Ron sighed. "Bishop A3."

"But you're losing by a mile," Harry said, "at Wizard's Chess. You never lose to me in Wizard's Chess. Oh - Queen A3."

Ron simply stared as Harry's Queen walked slowly to the square, stopped for a while, and started beat up his Bishop. He shoved the pieces out of the way, his three chess pieces muttering defeat under their breaths.

"Ron," Harry questioned, his voice full of concern. Ron was barely looking at him. "Should I get Aurora to talk to you?"

"I can't," Ron replied angrily.

"Why?"

"She's not here."

Harry's jaw dropped, looking a bit gormless for a moment, but then he closed his mouth again.

"W-What do you mean she's not here?" he asked.

"She's not here. As in, she's not anywhere near Hogwarts," Ron replied, his voice high-pitched and almost shrill.

"What?" Harry asked, looking even more shocked than he already did. "Has Malfoy gone with her?"

"I think so," Ron said. "Hermione hasn't seen him since this morning either."

"Then it has to be family business," Harry concluded simply. "We both know that even when those two argue like morons they still hold on to each other like peas in a pod."

"Peas in a _what_?"

"Never mind."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Seven Hours Later<strong>_

_Albus Avenue, Hogwarts Estate, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland_

Aurora and Draco walked together in the streets. The sun was still up in the sky, but it wasn't as hot as noon. They had gotten off their carriage in silence, and they were walking silently, their arms linked. Aurora's head was on his chest, her face clearly showing the sadness that ran through her veins. Draco's other arm was soothing his sister by ruffling her hair, which was swimming in the breeze.

In the tranquility of the evening, something disturbed it. A trail of loud footsteps was running towards the Malfoy twins. Aurora broke free of her brother, and drew out her wand. Draco too drew out his wand, but in the opposite direction.

"Who's there?"

"Ron," Aurora asked, feeling a little shocked. "A-Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Ron replied, sounding a bit harsh. "It's you who I'm concerned about."

Ron took Aurora's wrist and dragged it along with him. Aurora followed after him, grabbing Draco's wrist as well. And he followed his sister.

_17 Albus Avenue, Hogwarts Estate, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland_

Ron slowly opened the door of their villa, still holding Aurora's wrist. She walked to the centre of the living room There was everyone in the neighbourhood: Ginny and Blaise, who was sitting together on one of the armchairs, Hermione, who was sititng on the L-shaped sofa reading, and Luna and Harry who were both staring innocently at Ron, Aurora and Draco. Aurora's face turned white, and she looked down on the floor, her eyes avoiding to look at any of them. Draco was doing the exact same thing. Ron proceeded to sit next to Hermione.

"Why have the two of you gone off somewhere?" Blaise asked. Ginny shook her head.

"More specifically, why have the two of you gone somewhere without telling us?" she corrected. Blaise stared angrily at her and she pushed his face with her hand.

"Ow!" Blaise complained, rubbing his face with his hand. "That hurt."

"Well, get used to it!" retaliated Ginny.

Aurora and Draco looked at each other, trying not to snigger. As they maintained their composure, Draco nodded. Aurora sighed.

"Do you all know who Bellatrix Lestrange is? As in Bellatrix Lestrange, the dead Death Eater?" she asked. Everyone in the room nodded.

"She's our aunt," Draco finished. The entire room, except Blaise (who knew this piece of information from all those pure blood parties he went to), started gasping and whispering to each other. Words like, 'No way!' or 'How?' were rife. They were all obviously very shocked by the news.

"She's y-your aunt? _Your_ aunt?" Ron repeated incredulously. "But she's c-crazy... not that you're not, Aurora, but you know what I mean... isn't she bloody demented or something?"

"Yes, she's our aunt," Draco replied, glaring at Ron. "And yes, she is demented. And today is the day she died, eleven years ago. And we watched her die. Both of us."

"I think they got it when we said we," Aurora replied, but nobody noticed her.

Everybody's eyes widened almost unrealistically, except for Luna's, whose eyes actually narrowed a bit. Either she was unaffected by this, or she chose not to pay attention.

"This still doesn't answer our question," Harry announced, his tone calm and cool. "Where did you two go today without telling us where the hell you were?"

"The Black Cemetery," Aurora replied. "Then we had a couple of minutes at the Manor to... grieve."

"Minutes?" Draco retorted. "More like hours."

"Whatever," Aurora said angrily, rolling her eyes. "The point is, we had time to grieve over her."

"Then we went back here," Draco finished for his sister. "There. The end."

There was a moment of silence. Everyone shared their shocked faces with each other. The silence made everyone in the room feel guilty and full of this odd feeling they couldn't describe. Aurora then stood up and looked at everyone with a happy expression on her face.

"Don't any of you dare tell anyone," Aurora spoke firmly, breaking the silence. She stared for a while at everyone, her eyes resting on Ginny, who simply nodded.

"Look," she announced. "This happened eleven years ago. I can get over it. Now, I would like some dinner. I know you guys must be hungry from waiting for me like this. What do you guys want?"


End file.
